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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26543143">Aureate</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/palepinkpores/pseuds/palepinkpores'>palepinkpores</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Light [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Fall (TV 2013), The X-Files</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bisexual Dana Scully, F/F, Fluff and Smut</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:15:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>32,356</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26543143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/palepinkpores/pseuds/palepinkpores</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stella and Scully, the early years.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Stella Gibson/Dana Scully</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Light [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1920700</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>134</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Dawning, Part One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The room bustled, relishing in the relief of the afterparty. With the formalities out of the way and the awards presented, the music played and the lights were dim but bright enough to read the room. That’s exactly what Stella Gibson was doing. There was a congratulatory, jubilant air as women and men of various professions and numerous high-ranking positions milled around, chatting and clinking their glasses, toasting each other.</p><p>The Business Woman of the Year awards was the one event of the year that Stella looked forward to, knowing that she would see friends from a smattering of different fields, each just as interesting as the other. She also took it as an opportunity to expand her carefully selected social circle, knowing that the event would be attended by an abundance of intelligent, like-minded women.</p><p>“Stella!”</p><p>A warm, smooth hand glided across her bare upper back.</p><p>“Juliette, hi,” Stella smiled warmly, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.</p><p>“That’s a beautiful dress.”</p><p>Black, satin, backless but with a halter neck, completed with simple jewellery and impossibly high heels.</p><p>Stella chuckled and Juliette smiled knowingly, draping her arm loosely around her friend’s narrow waist. They were hip to hip as they crossed the room to the bar.</p><p>“It isn’t new,” Stella confessed, gleaming with happiness upon seeing Juliette again after what had unintentionally been so long.</p><p>“Well, you wouldn’t know,” Juliette smiled warmly. “What are you drinking?”</p><p>“Champagne,” Stella told her. “Can I get you a glass?”</p><p>The two women chatted for some time, perched on leather bar stools, pausing and resuming their conversation repeatedly as they were approached by various other friends and acquaintances.</p><p>“So, who are you shagging at the moment?” Juliette smirked, pushing another glass of champagne across the bar towards her.</p><p>“Mmm, no one in particular,” Stella replied, unfazed by the highly personal question.</p><p>“Knowing you, that could mean anything from everyone with a brain to no one at all,” Juliette pointed out, laughing.</p><p>“Oh, fuck off!” Stella giggled, shoving Juliette’s knee. “My sex life is… spontaneous… as and when I need it. You know that.”</p><p>“Yeah, I do. I’m actually quite jealous,” she confessed.</p><p>“No. You’re not,” Stella asserted. “You’re married to an incredibly brilliant, intelligent, handsome, soulful man who has been gazing at you from across this room like it’s the first time he’s clapped eyes on you for at least the last half an hour. Everything’s okay, isn’t it?”</p><p>“Oh, fine, everything with Simon’s…fine. He’s still talking about having a baby, though.”</p><p>“Ah… and that’s still something you don’t want.”</p><p>“No,” Juliette sighed. “I’ve tried, <em>really</em> tried to come round to the idea. My sister had a baby six months ago and we’ve been babysitting fairly often. I’ve been trying to convince myself. Sometimes I imagine that the baby’s ours and, as much as I do love her, she’s my niece and I adore being her auntie, but that’s it, that’s all I want.”</p><p>“Mmm,” Stella empathised.</p><p>“Simon knows, I’m completely honest with him, but there’s always a sadness in his eyes when we talk about it. I know he’s yearning to be a father, but I can’t do that for him.”</p><p>“He loves you, though. He’s loved you for…what, ten years now?”</p><p>“I know,” Juliette smiled sadly.</p><p>Stella moved her hand to Juliette’s lap, retrieved her hand and held it for a moment.</p><p>“Why don’t we go and put him out of his misery?” she suggested, looking over Juliette’s shoulder and smiling at Simon.</p><p>He met her eyes and smiled back, raising his hand in a wave.</p><p>Juliette nodded and, after ordering three more glasses of champagne, they made their way across the bustling event room to Simon.</p><p>Simon had always liked Stella. He liked her more than Juliette’s other friends. He liked her intelligence, her conversation, her interest in him and his pursuits, the way in which she was unconditionally there for his wife, the love of his life. Simon was aware, of course, of Stella’s allure and could not deny that she was incredibly attractive, but he watched her with admiration, rather than desire. He admired how men and women crumbled under her gaze and were rendered speechless when under her spell. He admired her loyalty and the way in which she always showed up, whatever the weather. In a way, he considered her a friend of his own, too.</p><p>“Simon,” Stella breathed, pressing a glass into his hand.</p><p>“Stella,” he kissed her cheek, before extending his arm to his wife and draping it over her shoulder, kissing the side of her head.</p><p>“I won’t keep her from you any longer,” Stella said. “Lovely to see you both.”</p><p>And, just like that, she disappeared into the crowd.</p><p>***</p><p>Amara saw her as soon as she pushed open the door to the women’s bathroom, she was reapplying her lipstick. Their eyes met in the mirror.</p><p>“Hi,” Stella was the first to speak.</p><p>“Hi… I haven’t seen you for… how long?” Amara prompted with a smirk.</p><p>“Too long. How have you been?” Stella asked turning around and leaning lightly against the sink.</p><p>“Oh, you know…”</p><p>Amara shrugged.</p><p>“Yeah? Who are you here with?”</p><p>“My wife, can you believe that?”</p><p>“I can, actually,” Stella raised her eyebrows. “You’ve always valued commitment and monogamy.”</p><p>“Mmm,” Amara agreed. “It’s a shame not everyone does.”</p><p>“It is, but you can’t have it your way every time.”</p><p>Amara’s eyes flashed, a flare of irritation evident.</p><p>“My choices shouldn’t be or ever have been the target of your ridicule,” she snapped.</p><p>“They’re not, and they never were,” Stella asserted. “Excuse me.”</p><p>She lightly pushed off the sink and felt the velvet of Amara’s dress skim her arm as she passed her and swung the door open. Brushing by a few more familiar faces, Stella’s eyes were instantly drawn to a flash of brilliantly red hair. Unfazed by her brief altercation with Amara, she quickly apprehended that the person who the hair belonged to was being pursued, unwillingly so. Frowning, she tracked them and watched as the red-headed woman streaked across the room, spitting the occasional expletive over her shoulder to the man at her heels.</p><p>The woman was also dressed in black, a dress with two slim straps and a fitted bodice which allowed a hint of cleavage to show. The dress exposed a generous display of her back and held its own, so much so, its wearer wore not a single piece of jewellery. The man who was marching determinedly after her, stood at what must have been a foot taller and Stella could see that his appearance had clearly declined as the night had progressed and he had consumed an increasing amount of alcohol. The man was scruffy and dishevelled, with his white shirt untucked and rumpled, the top three buttons gaped open, his tie was missing and a red wine stain marred the cuff of one of the sleeves. His eyes were heavy and his hair had been untidily slicked back, undoubtably using water from the tap in the men’s room.</p><p>Stella walked around the perimeter of the bar, in the opposite direction from the woman and her harasser, and deliberately collided with her by choosing the perfect moment to step straight into her path.</p><p>“Oh, fuck, sorry,” the woman gasped with an American accent, her hands instinctively cupping Stella’s elbows to steady her.</p><p>“My fault,” Stella insisted, placing a bold hand on her waist. “Is this man bothering you?”</p><p>She fixed the clearly intoxicated tormenter with a withering stare.</p><p>“He doesn’t seem to understand the word ‘no’, no matter how many ways I’ve attempted to rephrase it for him,” the woman told her, looking at the man in disgust.</p><p>“Maybe he’ll understand this,” Stella offered.</p><p>Keeping a hand on the woman’s hip, she took a small step towards him and looked him straight in the eyes.</p><p>“Fuck off,” she almost snarled.</p><p>“Oh, come on, love,” the man slurred, staggering on the spot. “I only asked her if she wanted a drink.”</p><p>“She doesn’t, so fuck off,” Stella hissed.</p><p>“Fucking women, fucking slags the pair of you!”</p><p>His insults increased in both variety and volume as he persisted, drawing stares from the clusters of people around them.</p><p>“You’re wearing a wedding ring,” Stella interrupted. “Is your wife here? She must be, otherwise why would we have to tolerate your presence? It shouldn’t be too hard for me to find out who she is if I ask around, maybe she’d like to join us and you can tell her what you’ve been up to.”</p><p>The man looked stricken as he listened.</p><p>“Can’t take a joke, can you?” he mustered as he sloped off, tripping over his own feet as he rounded the corner.</p><p>“Thank you,” the woman sighed gratefully.</p><p>“No problem,” Stella said.</p><p>They looked down at Stella’s hand, which was still in place, now just above the woman’s hip.</p><p>“Stella Gibson,” Stella told her, drawing her fingers away slowly.</p><p>“Dana Scully.”</p><p>They were momentarily rooted to the spot.</p><p>“Drink?” Stella finally offered, gesturing towards the bar.</p><p>“Please,” Scully smiled.</p><p>Scully fell into step with her and thanked Stella again as she ordered them a glass of champagne each.</p><p>It was late and the party was dying down as Stella and Scully settled into a booth.</p><p>“You’re not from round here,” Stella pointed out.</p><p>“Mmm, no,” Scully shook her head as she took a gulp of champagne. “I’m from Washington D.C.”</p><p>“That’s interesting. What brought you to London?”</p><p>“I’m on a vacation… of sorts. My friend who I’m with tonight lives here, we were roommates in college, actually, and she moved to London around ten years ago…We’ve spent years talking about how I should come stay with her for a few weeks and now just seemed like the right time.”</p><p>“How come?” Stella questioned, leaning forward, genuinely interested in what Scully’s answer would be.</p><p>“My job is very… demanding, to put it mildly,” Scully explained. “I needed a break.”</p><p>“What do you do?”</p><p>“I used to be an FBI agent, I'm a medical doctor now.”</p><p>“Ah,” Stella nodded knowingly.</p><p>“Why?” Scully smiled slowly. “What do you do?”</p><p>“I’m a detective for the Metropolitan Police.”</p><p>“Oh, well, there you go,” Scully said quietly, clinking the rim of Stella’s glass with hers and then tipping her head back to drain it of its contents. “Another one?”</p><p>“Please.”</p><p>Stella leaned back into the booth and watched as Scully made her way to the bar. The gentle sway of her hips, her petite yet confident stature, the way in which her dress flattered all of her best features. There was something about her, something that Stella hadn’t ever encountered before, something that evoked an endless bout of curiosity and intrigue. She had met this woman less than half an hour ago, yet the moment she clapped eyes on her, Stella wanted to know everything about her.</p><p>Scully returned with the drinks and they settled into easy, natural conversation. The other guests were gradually leaving, some approaching Stella to say goodbye before they made for the door.</p><p>“Who’s that woman over there?” Scully asked, discreetly tilting her head to the side. “She’s been staring over at you for a while.”</p><p>“We used to be… intimate, some time ago,” Stella said casually.</p><p>Having been aware of Amara’s fixated glare for a while, she didn’t need to look in her direction to see who Scully was referring to.</p><p>“Were you in a relationship?”</p><p>“No, it was very casual. We had a very brief reunion earlier this evening, actually.”</p><p>“<em>Oh</em>.”</p><p>Scully raised her eyebrows in admiration.</p><p>“Shit, no!” Stella laughed, realising that her words had been misinterpreted. “Not <em>that</em> kind of reunion, she actually told me she’s married now.”</p><p>“Ah,” Scully smiled. “Doesn’t really look like she’s over you though.”</p><p>“No, it doesn’t but there’s nothing left for us now. Our little arrangement wasn’t working for a while before we decided to stop seeing each other.”</p><p>“Plus, she’s married now,” Scully reminded her.</p><p>“That too,” Stella smirked.</p><p>Scully’s eyebrows disappeared into her fringe and Stella giggled at her reaction.</p><p>“What about you?” Stella asked, redirecting the spotlight to Scully. “Are you with anyone?”</p><p>Scully cleared her throat and shuffled around in her chair slightly, breaking eye contact with Stella.</p><p>“No, I’m not with anyone at the moment,” she mumbled, attempting to smile though the conviction wasn’t there.</p><p>Stella nodded, reaching across the table and placing a soft hand over Scully’s wrist. Scully’s head shot up in surprise before she looked at Stella and smiled.</p><p>“Listen,” Stella began. “I might be completely out of order for even suggesting this so you’re more than welcome to tell me where to go, but it looks like things are wrapping up here and I don’t want to say goodbye to you just yet.”</p><p>Scully listened, her eyes round and curious.</p><p>“I live a ten minute cab ride from here and have a bottle of wine in the fridge if you fancy it,” Stella carefully gaged.</p><p>“Oh,” Scully breathed.</p><p>Never before had she met someone as confident and as forthright as Stella.</p><p>“There’s absolutely no pressure,” Stella clarified. “It’s just a suggestion.”</p><p>She ran her thumb lightly over Scully’s radius before she removed her touch and waited for her response with her hands in her lap.</p><p>Scully took a deep breath and decided that, for once, she would act on impulse, allow herself to get swept up in the spur of the moment and indulge in something that she actually wanted to do.</p><p>“Why don’t you finish your drink,” she said. “And I’ll go and say goodnight to my friend before we leave.”</p><p>With that, Scully stood and drifted away from their table and across the room, leaving Stella momentarily stunned. She had been convinced that Scully would bottle it.</p><p>***</p><p>“Just here’s fine,” Stella directed the taxi driver as he pulled up in front of the house next door to hers.</p><p>She fished the fare plus a generous tip from her purse and thanked him as she stepped out onto the icy pavement with Scully.</p><p>“It’s fucking freezing,” Stella commented as they cautiously made their way up her garden path, avoiding the slippery patches as best they could.</p><p>She slotted her key into the lock on her door and paused momentarily before she turned it, realising the significance of what she was about to do. Stella couldn’t remember the last time she’d invited a potential sexual partner back to her home. In fact, it wasn’t something she had done since she had been in her twenties and sharing a flat with her two closest friends. She partook in one night stands whenever she felt she needed them, with an almost one hundred percent success rate, but she always made use of hotel rooms and, very rarely, the home of her partner for the night. Though she did prefer the detachment and anonymity of a hotel and, when she could sense that the other person was likely to ask her for her number afterwards, always insisted they booked a room.</p><p>Scully was different. She could tell straight away. The way she felt towards her was overwhelming. There was no way that Stella could deny the physical attraction, but she knew that even if Scully wanted nothing more than a platonic relationship, she would still be just as thrilled. She was fully prepared to sit on her couch drinking wine and talk to her for the rest of the night, anything to soak every last drop of her in.</p><p>“Sorry,” Stella apologised, when she noticed Scully shivering. “I don’t know where I just went.”</p><p>She unlocked the door and led them inside. Scully smiled nervously as they took their coats off in the warm hallway. Suddenly, the confidence and bravado that she had successfully managed to maintain at the event had seeped out of her in the taxi journey back to Stella’s and she was now quickly beginning to feel out of place.</p><p>“I- I should tell you,” she stammered. “I don’t do this. I haven’t ever done this before.”</p><p>Stella turned to fully face her and smiled kindly.</p><p>“I don’t know what this is yet, do you? It can be whatever we want it to be. It doesn’t have to be sex, I’m not willing to do anything that you aren’t completely comfortable with,” she gently assured her.</p><p>Scully blinked twice in rapid succession and nodded, relieved as Stella softly took her hand and they walked through to the kitchen.</p><p>“Actually, I have done this before… once, but it was at a very peculiar time in my life,” Scully admitted sheepishly.</p><p>Stella’s face split into a grin which very rapidly became a snort, before erupting into a full, all-consuming belly laugh. Relieved and equally amused by her own admission, Scully joined her and soon enough, both women had tears streaming down their cheeks as they stood in the middle of the kitchen and howled with laughter.</p><p>“So,” Stella choked, the first to regain something of her composure. “We both can’t fully admit to being saints then, thank fuck for that.”</p><p>Scully grinned indulgently.</p><p>“There are glasses in the cupboard behind you,” Stella told her, wiping her eyes before sliding a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc out of the fridge.</p><p>Glasses in hand, Scully immediately clocked the artwork as they wandered back through the hallway and into Stella’s living room.</p><p>“Alexis Rockman,” she paused to study the piece.</p><p>“Mmm,” Stella confirmed. “I really admire his work. I’ve another of his in my office upstairs.”</p><p>Scully pushed the breath she had been holding out through her nose in a long, steady stream as she sat and leaned into the cold leather of Stella’s couch. She took a long gulp of her wine before placing the glass onto the coffee table in front of her.</p><p>“So…” she began nervously, realising she didn’t have a clue about what to say.</p><p>Stella smiled.</p><p>“I won’t pounce on you, Dana,” she promised. “Whenever you want to leave, you can leave. No pressure.”</p><p>Scully nodded and relaxed her shoulders, grateful for Stella’s unwavering reassurance and the way in which she could read her so well already.</p><p>“How much time do you have left in London?” Stella continued.</p><p>“I fly home on Monday,” Scully told her. “Back at the hospital first thing on Tuesday morning.”</p><p>“Sounds about right,” Stella said wryly.</p><p>“It does come with the job, mostly, as I know you can appreciate, but I can’t help but think I bring it on myself. My level of investment I mean, sometimes I think I should just leave it alone and actually take a full weekend off.”</p><p>“I don’t think you should be so hard on yourself.”</p><p>Stella knew more than most how easy it was to get sucked into the void of work, to forget what it was like to have a life away from it until she found herself sitting alone in her kitchen, drained, at the end of a case.</p><p>“When was the last time you… you know… did this?” Scully asked, determined to stop talking about her job, wanting to transport herself to a world where it wasn’t her first priority.</p><p>“Like I said, <em>this</em> doesn’t have to be anything if you don’t want it to be,” Stella clarified. “But if something does end up happening, then you will be my first in around a fortnight.”</p><p>“Oh,” Scully gulped, taking another mouthful of wine, unable to stop herself from asking: “Who was your last?”</p><p>Stella raised her eyebrows and smiled at the forthrightness of her questions.</p><p>“A man I met at a bar,” Stella said simply.</p><p>“Is it usually men that you prefer, or does it not matter?”</p><p>“I do sleep with men more than women, but just out of coincidence,” Stella told her. “I find men easier… easier to forget about afterwards. Women hold more of an intrigue.”</p><p>“Do I intrigue you?” Scully almost whispered, her lips parted.</p><p>“Very much so.”</p><p>Stella slowly slid towards her and pressed her lips gently to Scully’s. She felt cold from the wine.</p><p>“Is this okay?” Stella asked as they parted, centimetres between them.</p><p>“Yes,” Scully replied closing the gap and brushing Stella’s nose with her own.</p><p>Stella slid her tongue upwards and gently held Scully’s top lip between her teeth for a second before she was granted access to her mouth. Her first taste of her was sweet as their tongues met and she heard Scully moan longingly, having seemingly forgotten herself. Stella placed a steadying palm on Scully’s cheek and took one of her hands in hers, pulling it to her breast as she slinked her own hand around Scully’s waist to rest on her lower back.</p><p>“Do you want this?” Stella breathed. “Tell me to stop at any point and I will.”</p><p>“I want it, please let me have you,” Scully almost begged.</p><p>Stella nodded, her lips nearly bruised from the intensity of their kiss.</p><p>“Not here,” she said, smiling as she used her thumb to rub a smudge of her own lipstick into Scully’s bottom lip with slow, steady strokes.</p><p>Abandoning their glasses and the nowhere near empty bottle of wine, Scully was led back into the hall and up the stairs, into Stella’s bedroom. Simple but tastefully decorated, cream walls and wooden flooring, tidy and inviting. They stood in the centre of the room, at the foot of the king size bed, kissing and touching, moaning and gasping.</p><p>Quickly, Scully’s doubts crept back in and she looked down as Stella teased one of the straps of her dress off her creamy white shoulder. Noticing immediately, Stella ran her palm down the length of Scully’s arm and pressed a long kiss into her forehead. It felt familiar.</p><p>“What’s the matter?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Scully admitted, unable to meet her eyes.</p><p>“It’s just me,” Stella told her, stroking her wrist like she did in the function room at the hotel.</p><p>“I really want this, I just don’t know how,” Scully admitted.</p><p>“I’ll show you,” Stella soothed. “Just relax and I’ll show you.”</p><p>Scully nodded and leaned in once more to feel the steady warmth of Stella’s touch. She closed her eyes as Stella began to kiss her anew, brushing her right cheekbone with her thumb as she cupped her face with both palms, stroking Scully’s tongue with her own.</p><p>“Just relax,” Stella whispered.</p><p>Scully smiled when Stella found the zip to her dress, just under her armpit, and slowly began to lower it. She allowed Stella to nudge the other strap down and relaxed her tense arms when she realised they were the only things now holding the dress to her body. The material dropped and pooled at her feet on the wood beneath them, and Scully stood before her in nothing but a black, lace thong and a pair of heels.</p><p>Stella’s eyes widened and made blistering contact with Scully.</p><p>“You’re so beautiful,” she told her.</p><p>Scully inhaled sharply and her knees nearly buckled when Stella pulled them together and kissed her behind her ear, down her neck, to her clavicle, her sternum and, after a sharp nod from Scully, the underside of her left breast with a warm, wet suck.</p><p>“Do you want to lie down?” Stella asked as she swilled her tongue around Scully’s nipple.</p><p>“Yes,” Scully gasped.</p><p>She stepped clumsily out of her dress and perched on the end of the bed. Stella stood in front of her and swept her in for another ardent kiss, slowly lowering her onto her back.</p><p>“Tell me to stop and I will,” Stella repeated, giving Scully’s fingers a reassuring squeeze with her own.</p><p>“Don’t stop,” Scully gulped as Stella moved back down to her breast.</p><p>Scully threw her head back into the bedding and pressed a hand over her eyes, her mouth gaping, while Stella moved lower still, swirling her tongue into her bellybutton, before kissing her soft, pale stomach. Stella pulled away and encouraged her to move further back onto the bed, easing her thighs onto her strong shoulders and looking up at Scully, her chin resting just above the waistband of her underwear.</p><p>“Is this okay?” Stella checked.</p><p>Unable to speak, Scully looked down at her through heavily-lidded eyes and nodded.</p><p>“Is this okay?” Stella repeated, slowly rubbing her nose into the translucent fabric and inhaling her scent.</p><p>“Yes,” Scully moaned.</p><p>“What about this?”</p><p>Stella looked up when she felt Scully arch her back as she slipped her fingers into her underwear and eased them down.</p><p>“That’s okay,” Scully whispered, lifting her bottom from the bed slightly.</p><p>Stella gently manoeuvred herself from between Scully’s thighs and continued to remove her underwear, placing them neatly to one side.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Stella breathed.</p><p>“Mmm,” Scully confirmed, closing her eyes in anticipation.</p><p>Stella smiled up at her and kissed her once more below her navel, before using her tongue to trace a wet line down to the neat patch of auburn hair she had just uncovered.</p><p>“Just tell me to stop and I will,” Stella assured her, kissing Scully’s pubic bone.</p><p>Scully reached for Stella’s hand again and squeezed it.</p><p>“Keep going,” she panted, spreading her legs eagerly.</p><p>Keeping her fingers threaded through Scully’s, Stella eased one of her thighs back over her shoulder and adjusted her kneeling position slightly. The flooring was cold on her knees, even through her dress, as she parted Scully’s folds with her tongue and gently licked her opening.</p><p>Scully keened longingly above her as Stella worked her externally with her tongue. She felt Scully relax almost as soon as she made contact with her and the wetness of her arousal soaked Stella’s mouth. Stella gradually increased the pressure when she could feel that Scully needed it and moaned when she began to flow steadily down her chin.</p><p>Meanwhile, Scully was rampant with desire and had begun to press herself into Stella’s mouth. She clutched at Stella’s hand desperately, signalling the intensity of her pleasure with each squeeze of her hand and roll of her hips. She uncovered her eyes which were still pressed firmly closed, and reached blindly for Stella’s head, pushing her fingers through her hair and pressing her face further into her, groaning for more.</p><p>“Easy, Dana,” Stella chuckled, pushing back with her head slightly as she felt herself being rammed into Scully’s centre.</p><p>Stella smiled, relaxed in herself now, knowing that Scully had fully surrendered to her desires and trusted her completely, no longer feeling self-conscious and unsure. She ever so gently brushed her clitoris with the tip of her tongue, earning a “Fuck!” and a jolt of Scully’s hips, before moving back to her gushing opening.</p><p>Stella entered her with her tongue and felt both of Scully’s thighs return to her shoulders, the heels of her shoes digging sharply into her back while Scully breathily begged for more. Patting one thigh with her free hand, encouraging Scully to release her slightly, Stella pulled her other from Scully’s sweaty grip and felt her grasp at the covers desperately. With Scully’s juices on her tongue, Stella slipped two fingers into her mouth and lathered them with her pleasure, before gently sliding them into Scully’s dripping entrance.</p><p>Scully’s eyes rolled back in her head when she felt Stella enter her and she moaned deeply. As Stella began to tease her bud with her tongue, Scully knew it wouldn’t be long before she orgasmed and concentrated on immersing herself fully in the purity of the pleasure she was feeling. She ground herself into Stella’s touch, chasing the intensity of the sensation that was beginning to wash over her each time she hit her front wall.</p><p>Stella added a third finger and tuned into what she could tell was working for Scully, focusing on bringing her to completion, feeling her becoming tighter and tighter around her with every thrust she made. Continuing to work her clitoris, Stella focused on hitting Scully’s G-spot each time and, soon enough, her efforts were rewarded when Scully fully clamped down on her, flowing uncontrollably, rearing upwards and letting go with a sharp gasp, her orgasm sweeping her away.</p><p>“Oh my god,” Scully moaned repeatedly.</p><p>Her muscles clenched and relaxed when she began to return to herself. Slowly, she prised her eyes open and released her grip on Stella, her legs hitting the mattress with two sequential thuds, her glistening chest heaving. Stella cleaned her thoroughly with her tongue, before rising higher onto her knees, peering up at Scully and drinking her in with her eyes.</p><p>Her chest and cheeks were flushed a rosy pink and her hair was plastered to her neck and forehead with sweat. Scully’s lips were moist with saliva and her hands were shaking as she consciously used them to cover her stomach.</p><p>“Don’t do that,” Stella said softly.</p><p>She brushed Scully’s hands to the side and leaned over the lower part of her body to kiss her abdomen. She did so twelve times, deeply and tenderly making love to her flesh with her lips and tongue before looking up at her and repeating her earlier sentiment:</p><p>“You are <em>so</em> beautiful, Dana.”</p><p>Stella gave her hips a final squeeze before she pushed herself to her feet, an expression of immense satisfaction dancing across her face. She could feel Scully’s drowsy eyes on her as she reached back to unclip her own dress and allowed it to drop to the floor, revealing that she had foregone wearing any underwear at all that evening. Stella remained standing while she removed her own shoes, followed by Scully’s, and crawled into the middle of the bed to lie at Scully’s side.</p><p>“Stella,” Scully began, her voice shaking as she spoke. “I’ve never felt… that was… I don’t know what to say.”</p><p>“You don’t have to say anything,” Stella soothed, rolling onto her side and peeling Scully’s sweaty fringe away from her forehead and out of her eyes. “As long as you’re okay.”</p><p>She smiled when Scully nodded. She kissed her shoulder and rubbed her hand in slow circles across Scully’s chest, feeling her heart thumping beneath her ribs.</p><p>“You’re beautiful when you come,” Stella told her, stroking her softly.</p><p>“No one’s ever made me feel like that before, not even-” Scully stopped herself abruptly and turned away from Stella’s understanding smile.</p><p>“I’m glad I could make you feel good,” Stella said sincerely.</p><p>Scully rolled to face her and kissed Stella a tender thank you while skimming her waist with her fingertips.</p><p>“I don’t know how to do that for you,” Scully admitted. “I’ve never been with a woman before.”</p><p>“I don’t expect anything from you,” Stella promised.</p><p>“I really want to try,” Scully hummed, moving her hand around to cup Stella’s buttock.</p><p>Stella gleamed and emulated Scully’s actions and, as a result, pressed their bodies as close together as they could be.</p><p>“Just go with what you think and I’ll guide you,” Stella mumbled, sucking on Scully’s bottom lip.</p><p>Scully took a breath, determined to get over herself. She deepened their kiss and kneeded the flesh of Stella’s behind before running her hand up to rest on her tailbone.</p><p>“That feels nice,” Stella hummed into her lips.</p><p>Stella felt Scully nudging at her thighs with her knee and immediately parted them to suddenly find herself straddling Scully’s thigh, with Scully’s centre perched on her own. Immediately, Stella began to move. Her arousal had been moistening her inner thighs throughout the time she spent inside Scully and she let out a steady breath, finding some relief in the friction.</p><p>“Move,” she encouraged, finding her rhythm and grinding down onto Scully.</p><p>She palmed at Scully’s hips until she too gasped at the contact. Scully eased her lips from Stella’s and propped herself up slightly on her forearm, supporting herself as they writhed against each other, coiled together.</p><p>“See,” Stella puffed, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment. “You just have to find what feels good.”</p><p>They rubbed against each other for a while longer before Scully began to feel the onset of cramp.</p><p>“You’re not going to come like this,” she told Stella.</p><p>“I could… try,” Stella ground out, pulling Scully back when she made to move away.</p><p>“I want to taste you,” Scully said.</p><p>Stella nodded, sighing in defeat as they reluctantly prised their sweaty bodies apart.</p><p>“Tell me if I do it wrong,” Scully instructed.</p><p>“You won’t do it wrong,” Stella shot her down immediately.</p><p>She rolled onto her back and parted her legs, pushing herself further up the bed with her feet as Scully settled below her on her stomach.</p><p>“Don’t feel obliged to do anything, stick to what you’re comfortable with,” Stella said.</p><p>Scully tenderly rubbed her palms up the flesh of Stella’s inner thighs, spreading her open ever so slightly with her thumbs as she did so. Unlike her, Stella was completely shaven, or waxed. From the little she knew of Stella, Scully guessed waxed. She seemed like a woman who took the time to take care of herself.</p><p>As Scully absorbed the sight, she marvelled at how beautiful the female body really was. She’d never considered it before. Stella was smooth and curved, though toned and muscular at the same time. She didn’t have a six-pack, but Scully looked at her tight mid-section with envy, the way her pierced navel rose and fell with her breaths and the arc of her hips jutted inwards ever so slightly. She pressed a slow kiss to Stella’s centre and immediately received a moan of approval from above.</p><p>“Keep going,” Stella urged, flowing with arousal.</p><p>Scully traced the outline of Stella’s opening with the tip of her tongue, attempting to replicate what she’d felt Stella do to her earlier. She cupped the jutting bones of her pelvis, feeling the need to anchor herself to Stella as she explored, probing and licking, her stomach fizzing with pride with Stella’s now continuous utterances of pleasure.</p><p>“Please, Dana,” Stella finally gasped. “Keep going.”</p><p>Scully inhaled deeply through her nose, breathing her in as she pressed her tongue into Stella’s hardened bud.</p><p>“Oh, shit,” Stella whimpered, trying her best to resist grinding herself onto Scully’s face. “Go inside, go deep.”</p><p>Scully quickly repositioned and began to lap at the crease between Stella’s thigh and her buttock, as she slipped one, then two fingers into her entrance.</p><p>“Push them in deeper,” Stella whined. “It feels amazing.”</p><p>Scully did as she was instructed and initially struggled to find her rhythm. She’d completely underestimated the mastery required for this act during the numerous times she had been flat on her back with a man at her centre. Empathising with her, Stella reached down and placed her hand over hers, guiding her movements until Scully found her flow and took charge once more.</p><p>“Mmm, that’s so good,” Stella encouraged, her mouth falling open when Scully began to consistently hit her spot. “Use your mouth on me too.”</p><p>Scully glanced up to see that Stella’s head was completely tilted back and her fingers were occupied, rolling both of her nipples in time with the now unstoppable undulation of her hips. She concentrated hard on keeping up the momentum of her fingers as she began to pleasure Stella with her mouth as well, finding the challenge of the act ramped up yet another notch as Stella began to become undone.</p><p>“Shit, Dana. Shit! Don’t stop, don’t stop…” Stella gasped, the pitch of her voice higher than Scully could have guessed it could go. “I’m nearly there… nearly there…”</p><p>Scully’s brows knitted together as she became engrossed, fully committed to getting Stella off. To giving her as much pleasure as she had received from her.</p><p>Stella began to suck her stomach in and Scully had to fight to keep her hips on the bed as she wound tighter and tighter until the flame ignited and scorched them both. Stella released her cries of pleasure up high to the ceiling, so loudly that Scully briefly wondered if it had woken her neighbours.</p><p>Stella dragged in ragged gulps of air as Scully slowed down what had become the frantic movements of her fingers and began to tenderly clean her up with her tongue, just as Stella had done for her. Remaining on her back, motionless bar the deep rise and fall of her chest, Stella smiled down at the top of Scully’s head as she continued to work diligently, unaware that she was being watched.</p><p>“Thank you,” Stella said easily, running her fingers through Scully’s tousled hair.</p><p>Stella scooted down the bed and hooked her arms under Scully’s, pulling her up and over her, encouraging her to lie completely on top of her perspiring body, front to front.</p><p>“Let’s stay like this for a while,” Stella said with a satisfied yawn.</p><p>She tucked Scully’s head under her chin, stroking her hair with one hand and tracing lazy swirls up and down her spine with the fingers of her other. Scully pressed her cheek into Stella’s ribs, shifting slightly to find a comfy resting place on her sharp-in-places form. She relished the feeling of Stella’s breasts pressed tightly against her and wound her hands around her shoulders as she closed her eyes.</p><p>“I love that you’re a natural red,” Stella grinned.</p><p>“You do?”</p><p>“Yeah, I was wondering,” Stella said with a yawn.</p><p>“What else are you wondering about me?” Scully mumbled sleepily into Stella’s chest.</p><p>“So much,” Stella admitted quietly. “And I don’t know why. I never let anyone in, I never do this. Under normal circumstances you’d be dressed and long gone by now. We wouldn’t even have made it here… I don’t invite anyone into my home.”</p><p>“Why did you invite me?”</p><p>“I don’t know. There’s something… I feel something that I’ve never felt before, for you,” Stella confessed. “Which, I’m quite aware is ridiculous, but since we met earlier this evening, everything has felt so easy and nothing ever feels easy for me anymore.”</p><p>Scully was silent as she absorbed the enormity of what Stella was saying to her. She was silent because she felt it too, in a way she had only ever felt for one other person in her life.</p><p>“I feel the same way,” she said.</p><p>They lay together silently, gently touching and kissing, until Scully could no longer ignore the pressure of her full bladder any longer.</p><p>“Where’s your bathroom?” she asked, peeling her tacky skin off Stella’s.</p><p>Stella remained on her back and pointed towards the door languidly.</p><p>“Through there, the door directly opposite,” she said.</p><p>Scully carefully stood from the bed and, on jellied legs, made her way across the room, completely naked.</p><p>“Is that a tattoo?!”</p><p>Stella had been eying her appreciatively as she walked away when her eyes immediately zoned in on the lower left side of her back.</p><p>“Yeah,” Scully confirmed, casually.</p><p>She left the room, that sway of her hips having returned, not once looking back.</p><p>***</p><p>“I forget I have it,” Scully said, chewing. “I don’t often look at myself in the mirror from the front and never from the back, so…”</p><p>“When did you get it?”</p><p>“Years ago.”</p><p>They were back on the bed, under the covers this time, Stella in a fresh bra and knickers and Scully in her thong and a large t-shirt of Stella’s. They sat up against the headboard with an omelette and a mug of tea each. The alarm clock on Stella’s side read 03:07 am.</p><p>“It’s an ouroboros, isn’t it?” Stella said. “Life, death, rebirth. Egyptian, I think.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Scully said, concentrating hard on the fold of eggs in her lap.</p><p>“Was it part of the peculiar time in your life?”</p><p>“Yeah, I got it when I slept with a guy.”</p><p>“Wow, he must have been quite a lay,” Stella teased, sensing a need to lighten the mood.</p><p>“He was good,” Scully admitted with a small smile.</p><p>“But no one significant?”<br/>
<br/>
“No, I haven’t heard from him since that night.”</p><p>Stella handed Scully her mug of tea and steadied the wobble of her plate.</p><p>“Did you want to hear from him again?” Stella asked.</p><p>“No,” Scully said. “My time with Ed was completely out of character for me. I don’t do that, ever, I don’t get tattoos either.”</p><p>Stella couldn’t help but smirk at the irony of her saying what she was saying after what they had just done. She wondered whether Scully was really as strait-laced as how she was presenting herself.</p><p>“I had cancer,” Scully said, her voice even and strong.</p><p>Stella’s mouth dropped and her eyes widened at her revelation as she turned to look into Scully’s steady blue eyes. This time, Scully held her gaze.</p><p>“Oh, Dana,” Stella gasped, immediately placing her hand on her forearm.</p><p>“It’s okay. Like I said, it was a long time ago- I’m fine now.”</p><p>Stella nodded, caressing her with her thumb.</p><p>“At the time, it made me confront a lot of things head on,” Scully continued. “It made me analyse every area of my life, my relationships with everyone I knew, my job, myself. I almost died.”</p><p>“My god,” Stella breathed.</p><p>“I had a little… I suppose you could call it a blip, and I went off the grid for a couple of days and made some different choices. I know those kind of things aren’t a big deal for most people, but I had never done anything like that before… or since, until now I suppose.”</p><p>Scully grinned sheepishly up at Stella, who had sat up so painfully straight upon hearing the word ‘cancer’ and hadn’t yet relaxed.</p><p>“Who do you have?” Stella asked. “In your life, I mean. Who was with you then?”</p><p>“My mom, my brother and his wife and my friend, he was my partner at the FBI. I would have died without him, without Mulder.”</p><p>Stella nodded and scooted a little closer to Scully, the half-eaten contents of their plates sliding across the porcelain precariously. They sat shoulder to shoulder in the centre of the bed.</p><p>“If you’re not busy, can we do something tomorrow?” Scully asked, puncturing the silence.</p><p>“Yeah,” Stella said, sliding her arm around Scully’s waist. “We can do anything you want.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I didn't mean for it to be this long, but it turns out that early-doors Stella and Scully are completely my thing. I absolutely loved writing this and I'm already putting together some ideas for the rest of their weekend.</p><p>Let me know what else you'd like to see from them from the time preceding the births of their children and I'll do my best to work that in.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Dawning, Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Contains references to loss and self-harm</strong>
</p><p>Scully had left rather abruptly that morning. Unintentionally so, she reflected, as the heels of her boots clicked against the pavement as she walked. She was hurrying to the restaurant because she was nervous, not because she was late.</p><p>She had woken before Stella and had lingered on the pillow at her side, watching her sleep for a while. Her blonde halo of hair scattered over the cotton, her pink lips parted slightly, her eyelids fluttering intermittently. The previous night had bled into the morning and it felt like a dream. To Scully, Stella was a dream.</p><p>The thought of just gathering her things and leaving had briefly crossed her mind, the doubts she had managed to quell were nagging at her once more and she felt inadequate. She had wondered whether Stella would awake and be repulsed by the sight of her in the natural morning light that exposed her as it poured in through the windows of the bedroom. Her stomach was softer now, after William, and she had three prominent stretch marks on her hips. She cringed at the thought of Stella seeing them when she had pressed long, luxurious kisses into her skin. What must she have thought?</p><p>Scully sat up in bed and picked up her mug of tea from hours earlier; she took a long, thirsty gulp. It was still half full and stone cold. She drained the contents of the mug and placed it down gently on the bedside table. Leaning over slightly, she saw that it was 08:18 am. She slowly pushed back the covers, lest she wake Stella, and swung her legs over to sit on the edge of the mattress, unsure of what to do next. She’d feel ridiculous climbing into a taxi wearing her dress from the night before, but she had little choice other than to do just that.</p><p>“Good morning,” a raspy voice behind her made her jump.</p><p>“Oh, shit!”</p><p>“Sorry,” Stella apologised.</p><p>Scully turned to see her lying on her front with the covers halfway down her back, now braless and smiling up at her.</p><p>“How are you feeling?” Stella asked.</p><p>“Fine,” Scully said, unconvincingly. “I’m fine.”</p><p>She remained where she was, tugging on the borrowed t-shirt self-consciously. Sensing her discomfort, Stella sat up and strode, naked, across the bedroom.</p><p>“Here,” she said, handing Scully her thick, fluffy dressing gown.</p><p>She turned away and pulled on her shorter silk gown, slowly, to give Scully time to fully cover up. After what she deemed to be an appropriate length of time, Stella refaced her and took in the sight of Scully’s crumpled form, now wrapped up tightly, perched on the edge of her bed.</p><p>“Feel free to take a shower,” Stella said with a kind smile. “You can borrow some of my clothes if you’d like, choose whatever.”</p><p>She gestured towards her extensive built-in wardrobe.</p><p>“I’ll put some coffee on and throw some breakfast together if you’re hungry,” she continued.</p><p>Scully shook her head, knowing that even a pair of Stella’s most elasticated leggings were unlikely to fit her.</p><p>“Thank you, Stella… Last night was really… it was amazing. I really need to head back now though, Lisa will be wondering where I am.”</p><p>“Oh, okay. I’ll call you a taxi.”</p><p>Stella tried not to let the tone of her voice give away her disappointment. She was surprised at it herself.</p><p>“What about dinner tonight?” she suggested before she could stop herself. “I know a great tapas place, I could book a table for us, maybe? If you still want to do something, that is…”</p><p>Scully considered and then smiled slowly.</p><p>“Really?” she asked. “You actually want to see me again?”</p><p>“I do. Of course I do,” Stella said, floored by how evidently low Scully’s self-esteem was. “I think you’re remarkable.”</p><p>She walked over to the bed and sat down next to her, pressing a kiss into the side of her head.</p><p>“I want to know everything about you,” Stella admitted.</p><p>***</p><p>Scully arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes early and was surprised to find Stella already waiting for her, sitting at a table outside, eyes down and concentrating on her Blackberry with a crease of a frown across her forehead. She, Scully, was early for her dates every time, but she was always the one waiting around for the guy and they were very often late.</p><p>She approached cautiously and was relieved that Stella was quick to notice her arrival and immediately slid her phone into her bag.</p><p>“Hi,” Stella greeted warmly, standing and meeting Scully halfway.</p><p>She reached for her hand and lent in to place a slow, lingering kiss on her lips.</p><p>“Are you hungry?” Stella asked. “I’m ravenous.”</p><p>Scully nodded shyly.</p><p>“Our table’s ready for us,” Stella told her, leading her inside, where they were quickly seated at a square table for two in the window.</p><p>The restaurant was quaint and cosy, with exposed brick walls and maroon tablecloths. Stella handed her a menu before taking the other for herself.</p><p>“I love tapas,” she said. “I don’t eat it nearly enough. This place is one of London’s hidden gems.”</p><p>Scully nodded.</p><p>“It’s beautiful.”</p><p>They ordered a jug of sangria and several dishes to share and immediately settled into conversation, Scully’s stomach fluttering nervously.</p><p>“How does Lisa feel about me stealing you away on one of your penultimate days?” Stella asked, nudging more ice into Scully’s glass as she poured.</p><p>“She’s got her hands full with her kids,” Scully said. “They developed chicken pox on Thursday and I don’t think her husband’s quite recovered from nursing them alone last night. It’s a relief to be out from under their feet.”</p><p>“How many kids?”</p><p>“Three.”</p><p>“Jesus.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Scully smiled. “They’re loud but so lovely- two boys and a girl. The boys remind me of my nephew.”</p><p>“How many siblings do you have?” Stella asked.</p><p>“Three: a sister and two brothers.”</p><p>“Are you close with them?”</p><p>“My brother Charlie and I were always close as kids, we’re on the younger side of the four, so we’ve always had that. Bill’s very conservative… we get on, but he can be difficult at times. I was very close to my sister, Missy, though, before she died.”</p><p>“Fuck, Dana,” Stella marvelled.</p><p>She was beginning to wonder just how much tragedy one person could take.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” Scully told her, smiling wryly. “It’s the tip of the iceberg.”</p><p>Stella gawked at her.</p><p>At that moment, the waiter brought over their dishes and the two women busied themselves repositioning various articles on the table and dishing out food onto each other’s plates.</p><p>“I’m sorry for being so morbid,” Scully apologised.</p><p>Stella shook her head and waved her fork dismissively, mouth full.</p><p>“Not at all,” she said. “I asked and you were honest with me. Don’t ever apologise for that.”</p><p>Scully nodded.</p><p>“What about you, any siblings?” she asked.</p><p>“None,” Stella replied. “I’m an only child. We’re polar opposites in that area.”</p><p>“I think we’re polar opposites in many areas,” Dana said.</p><p>“You think so? I think we’ve got a lot in common.”</p><p>They sat and ate for a while in comfortable silence, making small noises of appreciation as they chewed and topping their glasses up as and when they needed to. Chatting a little about their work, Stella’s at the Met, Scully’s at the hospital, and chortling at Scully’s stories from her childhood, made Stella think about how she had missed this. Companiable conversation was something she never required from her lovers, in fact a follow-up date was extremely rare in itself. She was enjoying herself and found herself wishing that Scully didn’t have to fly back to the States on Monday.</p><p>Eventually, they managed to clear every plate and drained their second jug of sangria. The restaurant had started to empty and Scully checked her watch in astonishment upon noticing that it was pitch black outside. It was almost ten o’clock; they’d been there for three hours.</p><p>“Time flies,” Stella commented, noticing the look of disappointment on Scully’s face.</p><p>She took her credit card from her purse and signalled to the waiter that they were finished and ready to pay the bill.</p><p>“Let me get this,” Scully tried.</p><p>“Not a chance, you’re on my turf so let me take care of it,” Stella insisted.</p><p>She smiled warmly at the waiter as she paid and was sure to leave a large tip in cash, wedged under her glass, as she knew that any tips left on the card machine were taxed.</p><p>Stella and Scully wrapped themselves in their coats and scarves and stepped out into the icy night. Feeling brave, courtesy of the sangria, Scully linked her arm through Stella’s and took her hand as and they huddled together while they walked, rosy cheeked, into the stinging wind.</p><p>“Can I come home with you again?” Scully asked.</p><p>“I’d love that,” Stella beamed, pulling Scully’s cold her hand up to her lips and kissing it. “It’s about a fifteen minute walk, if you’re too cold, we can get a taxi.”</p><p>“Walking’s fine,” Scully said. “You live in such a beautiful place.”</p><p>Stella nodded.</p><p>“The properties here are always so in demand, like anywhere in London, I suppose. I had my heart set on this area though and I used to check the property websites at least fifteen times a day to see if anything came up.”</p><p>“Why here?” Scully asked. “I mean, it is beautiful but I know there are other places that are similar.”</p><p>“My grandmother lived here when I was a little girl.” Stella told her. “My father’s mother. I absolutely adored her; I’d stay at her house the last weekend of every month. This is where I feel safe.”</p><p>Scully squeezed her hand.</p><p>“I get that,” she said. “Is she still alive.”</p><p>“No, she died when I was ten. Cancer, like my dad. It runs in the family.”</p><p>Stella looked straight ahead while she spoke but she could see Scully peering at her in the dimness through her peripheral vision.</p><p>“When did your dad die?” Scully asked softly.</p><p>“Four years after my grandmother, I was fourteen.”</p><p>Scully slipped her hand out of Stella’s and curled her arm around her waist instead, Stella mirrored her as they walked in silence the rest of the way home.</p><p>***</p><p>“Why do you do that?” Stella panted, flopping down onto the bed beside Scully.</p><p>She placed her hand over the two of Scully’s that were protectively covering as much of her stomach as they could. Scully shook her head wordlessly, breathing deeply as she recovered from her orgasm.</p><p>“You don’t have to hide from me,” Stella breathed, rolling onto her front and leaning to kiss Scully’s sternum.</p><p>“I just hate it,” Scully winced. “I can’t even look at my reflection without feeling revolted.”</p><p>“There’s no reason to feel revolted, you are beautiful. I’ll keep saying it until you believe it.”</p><p>“I had a baby,” Scully blurted out.</p><p>Stella’s head shot up and she couldn’t stop herself from gawking at Scully again.</p><p>“Two years ago, I had a baby boy,” Scully whispered, her eyes pooling. “My body changed in all the normal ways throughout my pregnancy and I gained some weight and I stretched. My stomach didn’t look like this before and every time I look at it or I touch it… I- I think of him.”</p><p>Scully moved her hands to cover her face as tears began to steadily trickle down her cheeks. She willed herself not to hyperventilate.</p><p>“Oh my god, Dana,” Stella was almost speechless as she watched her cry, guessing that whatever had happened with the baby couldn’t have been good. “I had no idea."</p><p>“I don’t know why I’m telling you,” Scully sobbed. “I don’t even know you, but I feel like I know you more than anyone… and I never talk about him. I <em>never</em> let myself talk about him.”</p><p>“We can talk about him,” Stella soothed, smoothing Scully’s hair back. “I want to know about him, if you want to tell me.”</p><p>Scully cried silently and Stella could do nothing but hold her until Scully caught her breath and began to spontaneously hiccup. Stella brought them both glasses of iced water and a box of tissues and they crawled under the covers, with Stella encouraging Scully to lean forwards to allow her to tenderly rub her back in wide, slow circles.</p><p>“I feel like I know you more than anyone,” Scully repeated, once she could speak again.</p><p>“I feel like that about you, too, Dana. I don’t ever do this, I mean it, I don’t. With you, it all feels so safe and familiar.”</p><p>Scully smiled weakly and leant in for a wet kiss, before settling back into Stella’s arms.</p><p>“His name was William,” Scully said slowly, taking a deep breath, concentrating on the comforting touch of Stella’s fingers. “I gave birth to him and I was his mother for seven months before I gave him up."</p><p>Stella wiped Scully’s cheeks with her hand as fresh, hot tears consumed her once more. Scully blew her nose and continued shakily.</p><p>“It was just the two of us for the longest time. His dad had to go away a couple of days after he was born and when I eventually found him, William was already gone.”</p><p>“Was it Mulder?” Stella asked gently. “Was Mulder William’s dad?”</p><p>“You’re good,” Scully smiled weakly, dabbing at her nose again.</p><p>“It couldn’t be anyone else,” Stella said. “You should see the look on your face, in your eyes, when you talk about him.”</p><p>“Mulder and I have a complicated relationship, in some ways, we’re everything to each other.”</p><p>“Where is he now?”</p><p>“He lives in Virginia. We went on the run… that’s a long story, too, and then we lived together until very recently.”</p><p>“Which is why you’re here, in London,” Stella calculated, trying to take in everything Scully was telling her. “To get away from it all.”</p><p>“I guess so,” Scully confirmed.</p><p>“Did… did Mulder blame you for what happened with William?”</p><p>“No, he understood why I had to do what I did. William was in danger and I would have died myself if anything had happened to him. He’d already been through too much and I knew he could never be safe with me.”</p><p>“Only a mother would have the strength to do what you did, Dana,” Stella comforted.</p><p>“Can I show him to you?” Scully asked, feeling calmer, lighter, finding a deep catharsis through sharing her greatest heartbreak with Stella.</p><p>“I’d love to see him,” Stella said, willing herself not to cry.</p><p>Stella released Scully from her arms and smiled at her back, watching her hurry across the room to her handbag, which she had dropped into the chair at Stella’s dressing table, without feeling the need to cover her nude figure as she did so. She noted that Scully kept her eyes down, concentrating on unfastening the clasp and zip, without even glancing at her reflection in the mirror as Stella would have definitely done herself.</p><p>Scully returned to bed with two small photographs in her hand. The first was of baby William at, what Stella was guessing to be, around six months old. He was wearing a blue sleepsuit and was sporting a sprout of red hair. His mouth was open and his globe-like, blue eyes were transfixed on something in the distance. The second featured a sleeping, newborn William, perhaps a day old. He was in the arms of a slim, handsome, dark-haired man who was sunk into a couch cushion. The man looked deliriously tired but shone with pride as he cradled his son, a muslin cloth draped over his right shoulder, beaming up at the person behind the camera.</p><p>Stella said nothing, but kissed Scully’s bare shoulder as they both looked down at the two most important people in Scully’s life.</p><p>Scully went on to tell Stella fully about the work she and Mulder did on the X Files and how it all led to their eventual demise. Stella listened speechlessly. During the few times she had allowed herself to wallow in the tragedies of her own life, she had always believed that there were few people in her world who had faced as much adversity as she had. Yet Scully’s story left her bereft and wondering how she was still standing, how she had lived through the cruelty that lay in wake for her in every shadow, every corner of her existence. How had she survived it?</p><p>The sun was coming up and the room was a dusty pink as they welcomed in the new day, sitting cross-legged on Stella’s bed with the pictures of Scully’s greatest losses resting between them. Scully pulled in a shaky breath and nodded weakly at Stella. Hours and hours had passed.</p><p>“Well, now you know,” she said, exhaling, relieved.</p><p>“I can’t believe it,” Stella breathed. “I don’t know how you’re still here, Dana, but I’m so glad you are.”</p><p>They held hands limply across the mattress, both physically and emotionally exhausted.</p><p>“I have scars, too,” Stella told her, eventually.</p><p>She lifted the sole of her right foot and pointed out the old, white slashes of her past, before directing Scully to her left and then lying down, and allowing her to trace the tangle of lines that adorned her thighs.</p><p>“I think yours should be a celebration,” Stella said delicately. “A celebration of William, of Mulder, of your strength and dignity and your unbelievable sacrifice to keep your boy safe.”</p><p>Scully sniffed, her damp eyelashes cool and clumpy with moisture. She knew she couldn’t cry anymore.</p><p>She allowed Stella to ease her onto her back and stroke her stomach with her nose and her lips. Stella easily found the three stretch marks that paralysed her with shame, two on her left hip and one on her right.</p><p>“They’ll eventually fade, but they’ll always be here,” Stella lulled as she climbed Scully’s body and kissed the ribs that covered her heart. “And William will always be here.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The next chapter will be Scully and Stella's final day together. What should they do? Is there anything you'd like me to include?</p><p>This series is going to be quite long, I think, as I've decided to start right at the beginning and lead up to them welcoming Grace in Under the Moon. I'm hoping to get a new chapter written and up every Saturday but that does largely depend on how busy work is as I usually come home exhausted and can't keep my eyes open long enough to write. Hopefully I'll be able to do it though! </p><p>Thank you for all of your support and lovely comments on the first part, they really do mean a lot.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Dawning, Part Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They slept well into Sunday afternoon and, when she eventually woke, Scully found the bed empty. Stella had tidied the bedroom and propped the photographs of William and Mulder up on the nightstand by Scully’s side of the bed.</p><p>The bathroom smelt of shampoo and soap and Stella had left a spare toothbrush on the side of the sink for her. Scully looked around properly, noticing all the small details Stella had in place: the plants, the candles, the small, black and white drawing of a shoal of fish framed on the wall, and wondered how much time Stella actually managed to spend at home.</p><p>After brushing her teeth, she pulled on Stella’s dressing gown, the one she’d borrowed the day before, and headed downstairs to find her in the kitchen, sitting at the table and reading the newspaper. She was sipping from a cup of coffee, curled up in a chair, wearing plaid patterned joggers with a crisp, white t-shirt on.</p><p>“Morning,” Scully smiled as she entered.</p><p>“Good morning,” Stella beamed up at her. “How did you sleep?”</p><p>“Really well. I haven’t slept that deeply for a long time.”</p><p>“I’m glad,” Stella said softly. “You were flat out and I didn’t want to disturb you, so I came down.”</p><p>Stella rose from her chair, folding the newspaper and skimming Scully’s waist as she passed her to make them both some fresh coffee.</p><p>“Thank you for last night… and this morning,” Scully said feebly, taking a seat at the table.</p><p>“Dana,” Stella said, turning round fully to face her. “Thank <em>you</em> for sharing all of that with me.”</p><p>They remained where they were for a few moments, each taking the other in. Scully had never seen Stella without makeup and, with her hair still damp and brushed straight, she looked younger, softer.</p><p>Scully could feel that the mascara from the night before had smudged under her eyes and matted into her salty eyelashes. Her hair was unbrushed and she knew she must look a mess, but she also knew that Stella wouldn’t mind a bit.</p><p>“Well, I can’t tell you how good it felt to get it all out,” Scully admitted. “I haven’t ever spoken to anyone about Mulder and the X Files like that before… and Mulder and I… we don’t talk about William anymore. In fact, we never really did, it’s just too painful. So, what I’m trying to say is… you’ve done a lot for me, more than you’ll ever realise and we’re practically strangers.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t consider us to be strangers anymore,” Stella said softly. “I feel honoured to have been able to help you.”</p><p>Stella brewed the kettle and made them bacon on toast and the two women sat at the table and ate their late breakfast in a relieved silence.</p><p>“What’s the plan for today?” Stella asked as she loaded the dishwasher.</p><p>“I need to call Lisa,” Scully said guiltily.</p><p>“You can stay again tonight if you’d like. A house full of poorly children doesn’t sound like much fun.”</p><p>“Yeah, she won’t mind me staying with you rather than them, considering the circumstances. I’d rather be with you regardless, to be honest,” Scully said.</p><p>“Well, I’m glad. I don’t know what I’m going to do when you fly home tomorrow,” Stella tried to joke.</p><p>The thought of Scully leaving the next morning gave her a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew it was highly unlikely that they would ever cross paths again. Stella doubted that Scully would have the time to return to London if it had taken Lisa ten years to get her there the first time, and her own work never had, and probably never would, take her to America. She felt as if she was preparing herself for a great loss, when in fact, she had met Scully less than forty eight hours ago.</p><p>The look on Stella’s face must have given away what she was feeling, the stinging sensation in her chest, because Scully was immediately at her side and pulling her into her arms, having seen straight through her.</p><p>“I don’t want to leave,” she whispered into Stella’s neck.</p><p>Stella let her head fall to rest on Scully’s shoulder and coiled her arms around her waist, drawing her closer. Misty eyed, she stood straight and smiled sadly at Scully.</p><p>“Let’s not be sad,” Scully whispered, a wobbly smile on her lips.</p><p>“Mmm,” Stella rolled her eyes. “I feel so stupid.”</p><p>“Well, if you are, I am because I feel the same way as you do.”</p><p>Stella cupped her cheek and they kissed deeply for a while, Scully backing Stella up against the counter and running her hands under the hem of her t-shirt and up her back. Stella, equally as enthusiastic, slid her hands down to cup Scully’s behind, pulling her centre towards her own.</p><p>“What would you be doing if I wasn’t here?” Scully asked, their lips making a smacking sound as they parted.</p><p>“I’d have been to the supermarket by now and I’d have probably cleaned my bathroom too. My laundry hamper is full so that’d all be in the machine and I usually change my bedding on a Sunday afternoon.”</p><p>“Let’s do all of that then,” Scully chimed.</p><p>She grinned at Stella, refusing to wallow in the possibility of never seeing her again.</p><p>“That’s what you want to do on the last day of your holiday?” Stella frowned.</p><p>“If it means being with you, then absolutely.”</p><p>Scully took Stella’s hands and leant in for a quick peck, before pulling away and practically bouncing across the kitchen.</p><p>“Make a list while I’m in the shower and we can drop by Lisa’s house to pick up my things on our way to  get groceries,” she called over her shoulder.</p><p>***</p><p>“I just don’t understand what they are,” Scully said, frowning into the tiny pores of the dough.</p><p>Stella laughed, plucked them from her hands and dropped them into the trolly.</p><p>“They’re crumpets,” she giggled. “I don’t really know how to explain them… they’re just crumpets. You toast them or grill them, you can make them sweet or savoury…”</p><p>They drifted down the aisles. Stella, having relinquished her shopping list to Scully, picked up products seemingly at random and tossed them into the trolley.</p><p>“You still need bleach and dishwasher tablets,” Scully called, walking quickly to match Stella’s pace.</p><p>“They’re in the next aisle,” Stella told her nodding her head in the direction she’d need to go.</p><p>She watched Scully walk ahead of her and turn the corner to find the next items on the list and couldn’t believe the amount of satisfaction she was getting from just completing a mundane, weekend food shop with her. Apart from when her grandmother was alive and they’d come to the very supermarket she was standing in, Stella had never shopped with anyone else before. In fact, she’d never even thought about it. She’d see couples of all ages and men and women with their children doing just what she did every week, but had never before compared herself to them or realised that it might be nice to use the products she was buying to share a meal with someone else or clean a home they shared. She’d never thought about it until she looked up to see Scully return with a bottle of bleach and a packet of dishwasher tablets.</p><p>“Just bread to get and then we can get out of here,” Scully’s voice rung in her ears. “Stella? Is everything okay?”</p><p>“Oh, no, everything’s fine,” Stella smiled unconvincingly, feeling peculiar.</p><p>“Bread?” Scully repeated, taking hold of the basket of the trolley and pulling it gently to encourage Stella to walk towards the bakery with her.</p><p>They packed the bags together and Scully loaded them into the trolley while Stella paid. It was starting to rain as they packed up the car and Stella quickly returned the trolley to the front of the supermarket, before climbing into the driver’s seat and reversing out of the parking space.</p><p>“I’m going to make us a roast with that joint,” she told Scully, who frowned, momentarily confused.</p><p>“What joint?” she asked, a slow smile creeping across her lips.</p><p>“The beef,” Stella said, glancing to her right as she turned onto a roundabout.</p><p>“You call beef a joint?” Scully questioned, narrowing her eyes.</p><p>“Yeah,” Stella smirked as she caught on to what she was implying. “What did you think I was referring to?”</p><p>Scully said nothing but glanced over at Stella with mischief dancing in her eyes.</p><p>“Absolutely nothing, Detective Superintendent Gibson.”</p><p>“I didn’t know you were into that stuff, Doctor Scully, though there are proven medicinal benefits.”</p><p>“Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Scully hummed, looking out of the window as Stella shot her an admiring glance.</p><p>When they arrived back at Stella’s house, they put everything away before Scully stripped the bed and loaded the washing machine as Stella prepared the beef and put it in the oven.</p><p>“We’ll have to eat quite late if we want this to cook properly,” Stella told her.</p><p>“That sounds great,” Scully said, joining Stella at the stove.</p><p>“I’m going to ring work later and tell them I’m unwell and can’t come in tomorrow.”</p><p>“What? Why?” Scully frowned.</p><p>“Because I want to take you to the airport. What time’s your flight?”</p><p>“Midday,” Scully replied. “You don’t have to do that.”</p><p>“Yes, I do. I want to soak in every last second I have with you.”</p><p>“Okay,” Scully said quietly.</p><p>“We can’t be sad,” Stella reminded her, tucking her finger under Scully’s chin and bringing her lips to hers.</p><p>They held each other for a few short moments before Stella pulled away.</p><p>“Come on,” she said. “The bathroom won’t clean itself.”</p><p>They spent fifteen minutes scrubbing the bath, shower, toilet, sink and tiles in Stella’s bathroom and, as Stella bundled the bedding into the dryer and stuffed her towels into the washing machine, Scully polished the mirror and looked around at their work appreciatively.</p><p>“What would you be doing now?” Scully asked hours later, standing against one of the kitchen worksurfaces, pouring them a glass of Pinot Noir each. “If I wasn’t here?”</p><p>“Well,” Stella said, straightening as she slid a tray of roast potatoes back into the oven. “It’s… nearly seven thirty, so I’d be eating, possibly prepping for Monday and ironing if I hadn’t done so already. I prefer this though, with you.”</p><p>“So do I,” Scully agreed.</p><p>They settled on the couch and ate their dinner watching a documentary about phenomena of the natural world.</p><p>“I’ll have to start doing this, cooking a big meal every Sunday evening,” Scully announced, gathering the remnants of her gravy with one of Stella’s homemade Yorkshire puddings.</p><p>“What do you normally eat?” Stella asked, placing her empty plate on the coffee table.</p><p>“Whatever food I have in, which isn’t usually much,” Scully admitted.</p><p>“You need to start looking after yourself,” Stella told her, her face serious.</p><p>“I know, I will.”</p><p>They washed up and cleared the kitchen, before settling back down on the couch together and finishing the bottle of wine.</p><p>“I wish you could stay,” Stella said quietly, threading her fingers through Scully’s as she leaned into her side.</p><p>"I know. I do too,” Scully smiled sadly.</p><p>“Shall we have a bath?” Stella suggested.</p><p>“What? Together?”</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“Yeah…okay…I’d like that,” Scully said slowly.</p><p>“Tell you what,” Stella said. “I’ll go up and start it if you get that other bottle of red from the kitchen.”</p><p>Stella disappeared up the stairs while Scully wandered into the kitchen. She decided on clean glasses and set them on the table next to the wine bottle. Her throat felt tight and her stomach churned. She silently cursed herself, pinching the skin on the back of her right hand and wincing at the sharpness of the pain. Scully was nervous all over again, knowing that she was about to be so exposed to Stella, this time without the protection of the duvet cover. As irrational as she knew it was, because hadn’t she bared herself in every possible way already, she couldn’t help the slight tremble of her hands as she made her way to join Stella in the bedroom, glasses clinking.</p><p>Stella was perched on the edge of her bed, wearing her silk robe and probably nothing else, plugging her mobile phone into the socket at her bedside.</p><p>“Hi,” Scully stood in the doorway.</p><p>“Hi,” Stella replied, discarding her phone and making her way over to Scully.</p><p>She took the glasses and bottle from her and felt the shake of Scully’s hands.</p><p>“Hey,” Stella whispered. “It’s just me.”</p><p>Scully swallowed heavily and hooked her arms around Stella’s neck, pulling them together, craving the comfort.</p><p>“I’m being so stupid,” she said.</p><p>Stella smiled into her hair.</p><p>“No you’re not,” she countered. “You can just watch me if you’d like, scrub my back?”</p><p>Scully released her and pressed a quick kiss to Stella’s lips.</p><p>“No, I want to do this,” she said.</p><p>“Only if you feel comfortable.”</p><p>Stella poured the wine while Scully retreated into the bathroom with Stella’s other dressing gown over her arm. The sound of running water from across the landing stopped and Stella dawdled in the bedroom for a while longer before she made her way over. When she entered the bathroom, she found Scully perched amongst the bubbles, her chest and cheeks flushed with the heat of the water but her lips pale and anxious.</p><p>Stella wordlessly handed her a glass and teased her hair away from her face, bending down and kissing her deeply.</p><p>“You are beautiful,” she told her.</p><p>Scully watched as Stella straightened and shrugged her dressing gown from her shoulders, hanging it on the hook on the back of the bathroom door. She stood there momentarily, combing her fingers through her hair, detangling a few knots, while Scully looked on. Her fair skin was smooth and well taken care of, her stomach flat, clavicles defined. Stella had mentioned to Scully that she was a regular swimmer and Scully could see it in her muscular thighs and biceps. Then, there were her breasts: smaller than Scully’s and delicate looking, her nipples a rosy pink. Her waist dipped in slightly, curved in the most feminine way.</p><p>“Oh my god,” Scully couldn’t help but moan.</p><p>“Hmm?” Stella hummed, raising one eyebrow.</p><p>She hadn’t expected Scully to speak at all, so the lust that was evident in her tone caught Stella off guard.</p><p>“I just can’t believe you get to walk around looking like that,” Scully said.</p><p>Stella scoffed, shaking her head.</p><p>“Shut up,” she said, stepping daintily over the side of the bath and sinking into the warmth of the water.</p><p>Scully sat up straighter, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs to hold them in place.</p><p>“Dana, relax,” Stella said, leaning back against the top end of the bath.</p><p>She straightened and spread her legs, bracketing Scully with them and tucking her feet in between Scully’s lower back and her end of the bath. If there weren’t so many bubbles in the water, Scully would have been able to see all of her.</p><p>Slowly, Scully released herself and allowed her legs to creep over Stella’s, straightening them gradually as she leaned back. She tilted her feet so that her toes were pointing inwards and slid them around the curve of Stella’s behind, tucking them away behind her, just like Stella had done.</p><p>“At least we’re not bickering over who has to take the tap end,” Stella quipped, referring to the fact that the taps were built into the centre, rather than one side of her bath.</p><p>“I’d take that side,” Scully said.</p><p>“I know you would,” Stella smiled.</p><p>They drunk their wine and stroked each other’s legs for a while before the bubbles began to clear and the water cooled. Stella placed her glass on the tiled floor and sat up to top them up with more hot water. She remained sitting higher up and eased Scully’s feet from their place, nestled into her back.</p><p>“Can I hold you?” Stella asked. “This is nice, really nice actually, but you feel too far away all the way over there.”</p><p>Scully nodded and began to shift awkwardly, attempting to work out the best way to manoeuvre herself around.</p><p>“There isn’t going to be an elegant way to do this, is there?” she sighed.</p><p>“There isn’t,” Stella confirmed. “I can look away though, if you’d like.”</p><p>“It’s okay, I want to get over myself with you.”</p><p>Stella scooted back as far as she could to give Scully as much room as possible. She reached out a hand to steady her as she pulled herself into an awkward half squat and slowly turned.</p><p>“That wasn’t too bad,” Stella said, delighted as Scully began to settle back into her.</p><p>She opened her legs wide and slid Scully right up to her centre, slipping down into the water a fraction as she encouraged her to lie straight back and onto her.</p><p>“It’s okay,” she whispered, feeling Scully hesitate and knowing it was because she didn’t want to relax her full weight onto her.</p><p>Stella pulled her closer, one hand on her chest, the other on her lower abdomen. She hummed contentedly as she felt the tension leave Scully’s body as she settled onto her. Scully’s nestled her face into Stella’s neck and kissed her throat tenderly, feeling gentle hands soothe her body in a way that only Stella knew how.</p><p>“Mulder and I did this once,” Scully said, placing her hands over Stella’s.</p><p>“Yeah?” Stella smiled.</p><p>Though she had never met him, Stella had developed a fondness for Mulder after hearing everything that he and Scully had been through together.</p><p>“We were trying to relax,” Scully continued.</p><p>Stella snorted.</p><p>“How did that go?” she smirked.</p><p>“Not too great,” Scully admitted with a knowing smile. “It’s nice to switch off, though, this is just what I need.”</p><p>Stella kissed her temple and rubbed her nose through a sweaty strand of her hair.</p><p>“I can’t believe it’s only been three days.”</p><p>“I know,” Scully sighed.</p><p>She smiled when she felt Stella’s hands begin to roam across her torso, cupping her left breast and then her right, rolling her nipples gently between her fingers, causing Scully to gasp appreciatively as she hardened. Stella’s lips made contact with her shoulder and she nibbled at the skin, eliciting a groan of longing from Scully.</p><p>“Relax,” Stella whispered in her ear.</p><p>She persuaded Scully to tip her head straight back so that she was draped over her shoulder while her hands travelled lower. When she reached her centre, Scully gasped as Stella began to stroke her tenderly.</p><p>“You’re so ready for me,” Stella almost moaned.</p><p>“Can you blame me?” Scully breathed, arching her back as Stella continued to work her.</p><p>Stella used her feet to brace herself against the porcelain of the bath, feeling Scully completely surrender and press herself firmly into her front. She nuzzled Scully’s shoulder and spoke to her in whispered assurances, her left hand resting on her stomach and the fingers of her right buried deep.</p><p>“That’s it, Dana,” Stella smiled, feeling her begin to tighten.</p><p>Scully ground herself down onto Stella’s thumb, which was circling her clitoris, drawing her orgasm out of her gradually, wanting it to build slowly and last.</p><p>“Keep going,” Stella coaxed as Scully’s breathy moans turned into in ragged pants. “You’re so close.”</p><p>“Oh fuck,” Scully almost squealed.</p><p>Stella had to fight to keep Scully’s hips down, lest her fingers slide from her and her thumb slip from its place, drawing continuous circles over her clitoris. The warm water sloshed roughly around them, a few waves crashing over the edge of the bath and hitting the tiles with sharp splashes as Scully became completely consumed.</p><p>“St-Stella,” Scully strained. “I’m-”</p><p>“It’s okay,” Stella encouraged. “Come for me, Dana.”</p><p>She used her lips to suck Scully’s pulse point to an angry red and moved her hand from its resting place on her stomach to resume its work at her breast. It was that that tipped Scully over the edge and she orgasmed with a long, continuous groan, her hips rising higher and higher, her eyes pressed tightly shut. Her heart hammered beneath her rib cage as she spasmed once more before relaxing deep into the water with a loud sigh of contentment.</p><p>Stella used her feet to push them into a straighter reclining position, before coiling her legs around Scully’s middle, possessively crossing them tightly at the ankles, much to Scully’s amusement.</p><p>“Like a frog,” Scully giggled, opening her eyes and taking a few steadying breaths.</p><p>“Mmm,” Stella mumbled into her neck. “I don’t want to let you go back to the states, but I know I have to.”</p><p>Scully turned her head and they met for a soft kiss.</p><p>“We can stay in touch; I’ll give you my number,” Scully said. “Then we’ll just… see what happens, I guess.”</p><p>Stella nodded, squeezing her with her thighs and drawing their lips together once more.</p><p>Eventually, they pulled each other from the depths of Stella’s bath and stood next to each other on the bathmat, drying off in silence. They moved to the bedroom to dress in their pyjamas: Stella’s being a long sleeved, deep purple matching silk set, while Scully pulled on an oversized REM t-shirt and plaid, men’s pyjama bottoms. They took turns to brush their teeth and moisturise in the bathroom, where Stella introduced Scully to her elaborate and expensive skin-care routine.</p><p>Finally, their heads hit the pillows and quarter to midnight and Stella immediately scooped Scully into her arms. They lay together in the heavy darkness and, in time, slowly drifted off to sleep.</p><p>***</p><p>“You’re sure you packed everything?”</p><p>“I think it’s a little late to worry about that now.”</p><p>“Yeah…”</p><p>Scully smiled sadly.</p><p>“It doesn’t have to be ‘goodbye’, not if we don’t want it to be,” Scully told her.</p><p>Stella swallowed heavily and nodded, unable to meet Scully’s eyes.</p><p>“Come here,” Scully said.</p><p>She pulled her in and laced her arms around Stella’s neck, kissing her with everything she had.</p><p>“I need to go or I’ll miss my flight.”</p><p>“Alright,” Stella sighed. “It isn’t ‘goodbye’, though?”</p><p>“Never,” Scully promised.</p><p>Stella helped her to lift her suitcase from the boot of her car and they shared one last kiss before she had no choice but to watch her walk away. Approaching the doors to her terminal, Scully turned and lifted her hand in a brief wave. Stella mirrored her action and, as she disappeared through the doors, slumped back into the side of her car.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Shout out to Katy and the complete stress of trying to explain what a crumpet is to her via WhatsApp all those years ago!</p><p>I'm sorry for not updating last week, or yesterday even. Work has been intense and exhausting and I struggled to write the second half of this chapter, but it's here now! Let me know what you'd like to see next- I am getting lots of asks on my Tumblr with so many amazing suggestions. I promise I will gradually include them as I write, your requests have not gone unnoticed!</p><p>Thank you for your patience and for reading what I have so far!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Lucid, Part One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Scully jumped when her apartment buzzer shattered the silence she had settled into. Though she was expecting it, it still startled her. Blanket around her shoulders and pyjama bottoms tucked into her slippers, she trudged across the room and immediately admitted the person on the other side without checking who they were. Shoddy for a former FBI agent, she knew.</p><p>Minutes later, there was a knock and, still wrapped in her blanket cape, Scully took a few steadying breaths as she suddenly became nervous before opening the door. Standing on the other side, Stella’s head suddenly shot up as Scully was revealed and her smile rapidly fell when she saw the state of her.</p><p>“Dana,” Stella blanched.</p><p>“Hey,” Scully sniffed, smiling feebly.</p><p>Her face was milky pale, her hair was greasy and slicked back in an old scrunchie and she was shivering, despite the blanket and the heat that Stella could feel emanating from her apartment.</p><p>“Come on,” Stella instructed, immediately taking charge and ushering Scully back inside.</p><p>She pushed her small suitcase in ahead of her and closed the door with a firm snap.</p><p>“It’s boiling in here, Dana,” she said.</p><p>Shrugging her coat off and hanging it on a coat hook that she had spotted by the door, she watched as Scully sunk back into her couch, groaning at an ache in her side as she did so.</p><p>“What have you taken?” Stella asked.</p><p>“I’m fine, Stella, it’s just a fever.”</p><p>The shiver in Scully’s voice gave away her complaint.</p><p>“You look like shit,” Stella stated bluntly.</p><p>She filled a glass with water and began to rummage around in the kitchen cupboards.</p><p>“What have you taken?” Stella repeated, retrieving some Tylenol and Advil.</p><p>“I don’t need them,” Scully sniffed. “Don’t want to build up a tolerance for them.”</p><p>“How often do you take pain relief?”</p><p>“A few days each month with my period.”</p><p>Stella shook her head, tipped two of each tablet into her hand and made her way to the couch with the water.</p><p>“Take these and stop being absurd,” she told her, handing Scully the glass and pressing a cold hand to her forehead. “You’re burning up.”</p><p>Wincing at the coolness of the water and Stella’s icy palm, Scully gulped down the tablets in defeat, handing Stella the glass to place on the end table when she had finished.</p><p>“I can’t believe you’re here,” Scully changed the subject, smiling and drawing the blanket a little tighter around herself.</p><p>“I know,” Stella softened. “Where do we even start?”</p><p>The two women hadn’t seen each other since Scully flew out of London three and a half months earlier. They had remained in constant contact, either speaking on the phone or Skyping every day, and Stella had booked her flight to Washington just two weeks after they parted ways. They spent the remainder of the time making plans about what they were going to do during Stella’s week-long stay. Nothing extravagant or tourist-typical, just things that they would do if they lived in the same city as one another: an evening trip to the cinema, morning runs in the park, ordering a takeaway. Simple but significant to them.</p><p>“How was your flight?” Scully asked.</p><p>“Good, not too much turbulence, the man next to me kept to himself and I managed to finish my book…”</p><p>Stella shifted a little closer to Scully who was sitting with her back against the arm of the couch, knees bent and her feet in the centre.</p><p>“Can I hold you?” Stella finally requested.</p><p>“Oh my god, I thought you’d never ask,” Scully laughed.</p><p>She threw her legs over the side of the couch and they both practically launched themselves at each other. Stella’s arm immediately coiled around Scully’s shoulders and she pulled her tightly into her chest, dipping her head to kiss as much of Scully’s face as possible, while Scully looked up at her, grinning.</p><p>“I’m going to make you sick,” Scully whined.</p><p>“Don’t care,” Stella dismissed.</p><p>She leant down further to catch Scully’s lips, tasting the staleness of her mouth and feeling the stickiness drip down from her nose and onto her top lip.</p><p>“Stella, this is gross,” Scully mumbled, embarrassed.</p><p>“No, it’s not.”</p><p>Scully pulled away from their kiss and grimaced when she saw Stella wiping her face with a tissue from the box on the table.</p><p>“With anyone else that would have been gross,” Stella said. “But it’s different with you. I don’t care, I just want you.”</p><p>She sunk back into the cushions and lifted her arm, motioning for Scully to cuddle into her side and then coaxed her into curling up and lying across her lap.</p><p>“When did you start to be this bad?” Stella asked. “You sounded a bit bunged up on the phone yesterday, but nothing like this.”</p><p>“I had a bad night last night, hardly slept.”</p><p>“Why didn’t you call me?”</p><p>“I’ve been fine, it’s just the flu.”</p><p>“Still,” Stella asserted. “I need to know these things now that it’s just you and me.”</p><p>Scully’s eyes widened and she grinned unabashedly.</p><p>“So… it is?” she asked. “Just you and me? I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way…”</p><p>“I’ve thought about it and there couldn’t be anyone else,” Stella said softly, smiling as Scully repositioned herself so that she could look up at her. “No one so much as catches my eye anymore because I’m constantly thinking about you. I miss you even after we’ve just spoken.”</p><p>“I feel the same,” Scully smiled.</p><p>“I’ve been here all of five minutes and we’re already exclusive,” Stella chuckled, shaking her head. “I never thought this would be me.”</p><p>“I never thought I’d get to have this with someone again. I don’t deserve it.”</p><p>“No,” Stella snapped, her tone suddenly sharp and authoritative. “You deserve everything.”</p><p>She ran her fingers lightly over Scully’s eyebrows and watched as her eyes fluttered closed for a moment.</p><p>“Do you need a nap?” Stella asked. “I can unpack and have a shower if you’re tired.”</p><p>“No,” Scully groaned, opening her eyes and looking at Stella apologetically. “I’m the world’s worst host, aren’t I? I haven’t even made you a drink or shown you around.”</p><p>“Dana, I’m a big girl, it’s fine, and you’re really unwell. I’m going to use your bathroom and then sort you out,” Stella said, easing Scully upright for a second, before encouraging her to lie back down once she was out from beneath her.</p><p>“It’s just down there,” Scully pointed feebly down the small corridor that came off her living room.</p><p>The bathroom door clicked shut and Scully summoned enough strength to drag herself from the couch. With her trusty blanket still draped around her shoulders, she cleared up the mortifying mess of snotty tissues and empty cups from the living room and switched on a few lamps to cast a warm glow through the dullness of an early February afternoon. She filled her kettle and flicked it on to boil, taking two mugs from the cupboard and adding coffee to one but leaving the other empty in case Stella felt like tea instead. Turning her back to the worksurface, Scully tipped her head and rested on a cupboard momentarily.</p><p>“It’s too hot in here, Dana,” Stella declared as she emerged from the bathroom and turned into the kitchen.</p><p>Scully smiled; she was so happy that they were back together.</p><p>“Your temperature won’t go down unless we turn the heating off or you lose your blanket and the layers.”</p><p>“Mmm?” Scully said in mock innocence, turning towards the boiling kettle.</p><p>“You heard me,” Stella smirked, slinking up behind her and wrapping her hands around her waist.</p><p>“Tea or coffee?”</p><p>“Coffee, please,” Stella whispered in her ear, kissing her earlobe before stepping back so Scully could pour.</p><p>Stella unpacked a little and threw on her own pyjamas before they settled on the couch and found a Saturday afternoon film that had just started. Without asking, Stella turned the heating off and persuaded Scully to remove her dressing gown in a bid to reduce her temperature. They curled up together, despite Scully’s protests.</p><p>“You’re not stinky,” Stella insisted. “I haven’t touched you for so long, let me have you.”</p><p>***</p><p>Hours later, Stella awoke, chilly and alone on Scully’s couch. The sky outside was completely black and rain was hammering on the windows.</p><p>“Oh, god,” she croaked.</p><p>“Hey,” Scully called from the kitchen.</p><p>With one eye open, Stella slowly sat up and peered over the back of the couch at her.</p><p>“What time is it?”</p><p>“Nearly eight,” Scully replied. “You’ve been out for hours.”</p><p>“Fuck, I’m sorry.”</p><p>Stella stood and rubbed her eyes, smudging her makeup down her cheeks.</p><p>“I’ve only been awake for an hour myself,” Scully admitted.</p><p>Stella took in her fresh clothes, damp hair and vigorously scrubbed face.</p><p>“You’ve had a shower, feel better?”</p><p>“Much,” Scully replied, approaching Stella and kissing her warmly. “Thank you for being right.”</p><p>Stella smirked, nuzzling her cheek.</p><p>“Who knew a doctor could be so stubborn about her own health?”</p><p>“Haven’t you heard? We’re renowned for it,” Scully said, leaning into Stella’s mouth. “Let’s order pizza and watch something spooky.”</p><p>“I like the sound of that. Order me whatever you’re having and I’ll jump in the shower.”</p><p>The pizza arrived within the hour and, fresh and clad in her own loungewear, Stella tucked into her half of a large Vegetable Supreme. She sat shoulder to shoulder with Scully, whose temperature had returned to normal and was feeling a lot brighter, watching 1931’s take on Frankenstein.</p><p>“I can’t believe you’ve never seen this,” Scully said through a mouthful of dough.</p><p>“I don’t really have much of a tolerance for the spooky and ridiculous,” Stella shrugged.</p><p>Scully snorted.</p><p>“Neither did I, once.”</p><p>Stella smiled and briefly allowed her thoughts to turn to Mulder. She wondered how he was getting on, whether he was over Scully, whether they’d watched this film together once, whether she’d ever meet him herself.</p><p>“You’ll have to hold onto me extra tightly tonight, then, in case I get too frightened,” Stella told her, sneaking a sidewards glance to observe the blood rush to Scully’s cheeks.</p><p>“Maybe I will,” Scully said.</p><p>She had been giving herself elaborate pep-talks for weeks leading up to Stella’s visit: they were no longer strangers, they knew each other more than anyone else did; she needed to get over herself.</p><p>“Sounds like you’ve got big plans for me,” Stella smirked.</p><p>“Maybe I have.”</p><p>Stella sat back and observed Scully’s determined stare at the television screen, her face reddening at a rapid rate as she pretended not to notice she was being watched. Sparing her, Stella draped a casual arm over the top of the couch, around Scully’s shoulders, and they finished the pizza and the film in a comfortable silence.</p><p>***</p><p>“I hope you helped yourself to everything,” Scully called to Stella’s back, watching her make her way from the bathroom to her bedroom.</p><p>Stella shook her head before glancing over her shoulder at the petite redhead, who was crushing their pizza box into a recyclable pile of cardboard in the kitchen.</p><p>“Don’t take this the wrong way, Dana, but drugstore hasn’t been my thing since I was seventeen.”                                                                 </p><p>Scully smirked and rolled her eyes, watching her new partner walk away. She used Stella’s absence to quickly blow her nose and dab cold water into her cheeks and forehead. She breathed deeply. Brave, brave, brave. She was going to be brave.</p><p>After turning off the lights in the kitchen and living room, Scully trailed to her bedroom, her throat tight with nerves. She found Stella in front of her dresser, looking at a photograph she had taped to her mirror.</p><p>“That’s Melissa,” Scully told her, making Stella, who hadn’t heard her enter the room, jump slightly.</p><p>“How old was she there?”</p><p>“Fourteen going on twenty one.”</p><p>Stella smirked and turned away, approaching Scully and resting her forehead against hers.</p><p>“We can just sleep,” Stella told her. “You must be exhausted.”</p><p>“I don’t want to sleep,” Scully whispered.</p><p>They stood skin to skin, swaying slightly. Stella’s inevitable jet lag and Scully’s flu combining to momentarily freeze them before Scully caught Stella’s lips with her own. Feeling minty-clean and refreshed, Scully was determined to let go.</p><p>“Lie on the bed,” she mumbled into Stella’s mouth.</p><p>Stella nodded eagerly and made to remove her top.</p><p>“No,” Scully stopped her. “I want to. Just lie on the bed for now.”</p><p>Stella smiled, knowing just how deeply Scully was digging, just how much courage it was pulling from her to take control.</p><p>She positioned herself on her back in the middle of Scully’s bed, among the flowers of her duvet cover, watching as Scully wavered for a second above her. Pushing an anxious breath out, Scully proceeded to kiss Stella once more, prising her lips open with her tongue and moaning when she felt Stella’s hands slide under her t-shirt to caress her bare skin. Sucking her bottom lip between her own, Scully eased Stella’s hands to the side and hovered above her.</p><p>“I want this so much,” Stella told her.</p><p>Scully nodded and leaned down to suck on the side of her neck, causing Stella to gasp as she felt the pressure of a bruise forming on her skin.</p><p>“Just to let everybody know,” Scully mumbled into her collarbone as she moved downwards. “You’re all mine.”</p><p>Stella smiled and tipped her head back, pressing her eyes shut, feeling Scully pushing her t-shirt from her skin and raising her arms obediently so she could lift it over her head.</p><p>Scully took a moment to reabsorb the woman squirming beneath her. She had now straddled her hips and could feel the rise and fall of her stomach as she breathed deeply in anticipation of what was to come. Discreetly, Scully rubbed her hands together, warming them slightly, before cupping the undersides of Stella’s breasts. Stella moaned when Scully brushed her nipples with her thumbs and bucked her hips sharply when she started to use her mouth.</p><p>“Oh my god, Dana, that’s so good,” she moaned, holding Scully’s hair out of her face for her while she worked.</p><p>Sinking lower still, Scully kissed a pattern around Stella’s navel and licked a slow, deliberate streak along the waistband of her bottoms that made her groan.</p><p>“Can you smell me?” Stella breathed.</p><p>“Yeah,” Scully whispered. “You’re so hot.”</p><p>Slowly, Scully inched the cotton down past Stella’s hips and her eyes widened when she found that she wasn’t wearing any underwear. Tossing the last of Stella’s clothing over her shoulder, Scully glanced up to see that Stella had propped herself up onto her elbows and was watching her.</p><p>“Hey,” Scully greeted.</p><p>“Hey yourself,” Stella smiled, radiating an impossible amount of affection.</p><p>“You ready?”</p><p>“So ready,” Stella confirmed, sinking down onto her back and closing her eyes.</p><p>Scully used her tongue to trace the outline of Stella’s labia, planting small, gentle kisses on the smooth skin, hearing Stella sigh languidly above her. Dipping the tip of her tongue into her folds, it was Scully’s turn to moan when she discovered how turned on Stella was. Unwilling to tease, Scully lifted Stella’s right thigh and encouraged her to rest it over her shoulder as she lay down on her front. In the lamplight, Scully could see clearer than ever the scars that Stella had told her about when she was in London and Scully made a point of running her lips over the now healed marks.</p><p>“Dana,” Stella sighed, reaching down blindly and brushing Scully’s cheek with her fingers, overwhelmed with how much intimacy there was in what she was allowing her to do.</p><p>Scully kissed the marred skin properly before returning her attention to what she had started. Stella had begun to squirm eagerly and Scully wasted no time in entering her with two fingers, quickly bringing a third to join them. She pushed into her as deeply as Stella’s body would permit and then pulled almost all the way out, causing Stella to moan at the feeling of emptiness as she did so. It took a few minutes, but Scully managed to build up to a steady tempo that had Stella gasping and rolling her hips to seek more friction.</p><p>Responding to her partner’s unvoiced urges, Scully lowered her mouth directly onto her clitoris, making contact at the exact moment her fingers curled upwards to meet Stella’s g-spot.</p><p>“Oh my god,” Stella moaned. “It’s right there, Dana.”</p><p>Feeling euphoric, Scully continued with what she was doing, greedily chasing Stella’s orgasm. The slight chill of the room had been replaced with the desperate heat that radiated from Stella’s writhing body, the sheets below her quickly accumulating in a sweaty heap as she pulled hard at the fabric.</p><p>Finally, Stella’s hips rose from the bed one final time as she coiled tightly around Scully, squeezing her with everything she had, then moaning with satisfaction as she sunk back down. Her thighs dropped open and lazily splayed, her fists released the sheets they had bunched tightly, and Stella moved one hand to rest on her sweaty stomach, while the other blindly groped for any part of Scully she could make contact with.</p><p>Heart swelling with pride, Scully crawled from between Stella’s legs and, ever prepared, retrieved a packet of wipes from her nightstand, quickly wiped her fingers and removed her clothes before she nestled down against Stella’s sweaty side.</p><p>“That was the best,” Stella panted. “The best one yet.”</p><p>She swiped her forearm across her perspiring forehead and rolled over to lavish Scully with thank you kisses, hitching her leg up over her hip as she did so.</p><p>“How can I ever repay you,” she whispered suggestively, using her grip on her thigh to pull her closer still.</p><p>“Like this,” Scully said into her neck. “I want it like this.”</p><p>Stella nodded and gave her one more squeeze before proceeding to untangle them and rearrange their legs so that Scully was straddling her thigh and she was straddling Scully’s. Face to face, Stella placed one hand on Scully’s hip and trailed one arm under her neck, pushing her fingers into her hair and easing her into a kiss.</p><p>“Whenever you’re ready,” Stella spoke against her lips.</p><p>Scully shifted against Stella’s leg, wriggling experimentally at first, trying to find what felt good. She reached down to spread herself open, flush against Stella’s bare thigh and gave her first full thrust, followed by another, then another. Stella watched as Scully’s eyes closed and her forehead creased in concentration. She stroked the back of her neck and held herself in place as best she could, allowing Scully to use her however she needed to. She could feel Scully become wetter and wetter, her thigh thick with the trail of her desire.</p><p>As the speed and intensity of her thrusts sped up, Scully began to lose traction, her movements becoming unsteady and inaccurate, causing her to release a moan of frustration, distinctive from her previous gasps of pleasure.</p><p>“Hold onto me,” Stella encouraged, tightening her grip on Scully’s thigh and easing her other arm beneath Scully’s hip in an attempt to support her lower back.</p><p>Scully nodded, eyes still shut in determination, and gripped both of Stella’s hips. She felt her calf begin to cramp but it was the closeness and intimacy of their position that had her set on achieving orgasm as they were. Recognising this, Stella did all she could to get her there, pressing her thigh upwards to meet Scully’s every move, whispering gentle words of encouragement and affirmations of her beauty as she watched her lips move and eyebrows twitch as she quickly reached her peak.</p><p>“That’s it, Dana. You’re so close,” Stella urged. “Nearly there.”</p><p>“Oh my god,” Scully hissed, eyes rolling.</p><p>“Come on, come hard. Come all over me. I want you all over me.”</p><p>Stella pushed herself up just as Scully thrust down and ground herself as hard as she could against Stella’s muscular thigh. Then, she was seeing stars, pressing herself against the woman who she realised, in that moment, she loved. She knew she was infatuated; she knew she spent a ridiculous amount of time thinking about her, lusting after her, imagining what Stella could be doing at any given moment in the day or night, but the notion of love had illuded her. It terrified her, so much so, she hadn’t even entertained the idea that everything she was feeling pointed to love. It could be nothing else, she so suddenly realised, and it felt like a punch to her gut when she recognised the fact that she hadn’t felt it in so long. That the last person she had fallen in love with had been William.</p><p>“Dana,” a soft voice and an even softer finger tracing her right cheekbone revived her.</p><p>Scully blinked the room back into focus and zoned in on Stella’s concerned face.</p><p>“Where did you go?” Stella asked.</p><p>She began to rub her hands up and down Scully’s arms, mistaking her goosebumps and rigorous shivering for a chill, thinking that perhaps her temperature had crept up again and tried to remember when she was due her next dose of Tylenol.</p><p>“I love you,” Scully blurted out. “I don’t expect you to say it back and if you pack your suitcase back up and take the next flight home to London, I won’t blame you, but I just have to tell you. I love you, Stella.”</p><p>“Oh,” Stella’s mouth gaped open. “Oh, Dana.”</p><p>“It’s alright, you don’t love me back because of course you don’t. I don’t expect you to,” Scully said slowly, dazed.</p><p>“No, it’s not that,” Stella insisted, prising them apart and sitting up to reach for the packet of wipes. “Here,” she said, handing the top one to Scully.</p><p>They silently cleaned themselves up and Stella took the used wipe from Scully and placed them on top of the duvet for the time being. She untucked the throw from the bottom of the mattress and covered Scully with it, before slipping under herself sliding and back to her side.</p><p>“Dana,” she began. “I do love you.”</p><p>Scully’s eyebrows shot up and her mouth opened as she attempted to speak.</p><p>“No, just let me say it,” Stella stopped her with a finger to her lips. “I love you. I knew in London but couldn’t say it and then when you opened the door earlier and I saw how sick you were, I couldn’t even begin to deny it to myself. I love you.”</p><p>“You really do?” Scully whispered, her eyes wide and glassy.</p><p>“Of course I do and believe me, I’ve tried desperately not to.”</p><p>“Oh my god.”</p><p>“Believe it, Dana, there’s nothing about you I don’t love. Even your snot.”</p><p>Tears dripped steadily down Scully’s cheeks as she huffed out a laugh. Stella pulled her to lie on top of her, chest to chest, just as she had on their first night together.</p><p>“Let’s rest now,” she spoke into her hair, stroking her back as their breathing syncronised and they fell into sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hitting Augustineflowergirl's requests for a non- life threatening sick fic and Scully getting more confident when making love.</p><p>I'm sorry it's taken two weeks to get another update out of me. I've been working in the community this month, which means attending homebirths and being on call pretty much 24/7, so finding time to write has been difficult. However, I have this coming week off and that, combined with Tier 3 lockdown in my area, means hopefully I'll be able to write!</p><p>I still have a lot of ground to cover with Stella and Scully, so Aureate will be my priority, but I have had an idea for a little Jean/Jakob and a big Mulder/Scully on the run with baby William in tow. Of course I've had all the inspiration but not much time to write! Let me know if you'd like to read those in the very distant future and I'll jot some ideas down in preparation.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Lucid, Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’d like you to meet my mother,” Scully announced the next evening over dinner.</p><p>They were well into their main course at the quirky little Thai place, located a brisk stroll away from her apartment.</p><p>“You’d like me to…?” Stella whitened and a noodle slipped from behind her lips.</p><p>“Meet my mother,” Scully repeated as if it was no big deal.</p><p>“Oh, right.”</p><p>Stella quickly refilled her fork and stuffed it in her mouth before she was expected to commit to speaking more than three words.</p><p>“I’ve told her about you,” Scully continued. “And, I’ll be honest, she isn’t fully on board. In fact, I don’t think she’s anywhere near the boat, but I think that’ll change when she meets you.”</p><p>She looked up expectantly and Stella knew she’d have to formulate a reply.</p><p>“Well… is… is this the right time?” she ventured. “I mean, you’re poorly, Dana, you’re not in any fit state to be out tonight even.”</p><p>“I’m not <em>sick</em> sick, Stella. Besides, I’d go to work like this and I’ve made myself commit to being just as active in my personal life as I am in my work life when I’m sick.”</p><p>“Cheers to that,” Stella mumbled clinking their glasses feebly.</p><p>“So, what do you think?” Scully persisted, ignoring her subtle attempt at distraction.</p><p>Stella took a deep breath in and then blew it out silently through her nose.</p><p>“If it’s what you want, if it’ll make you happy, I’ll meet your mother. Call her tomorrow and arrange something.”</p><p>Scully’s face lit up across the table.</p><p>“You don’t know how much this means to me, Stella,” she beamed, cheeks flushed in the heat of the restaurant.</p><p>“Don’t mention it,” Stella shrugged nervously, her heart suddenly beginning to hammer.</p><p>Meeting the family, even just a singular parent, had never been on Stella’s agenda. She had never understood the need some fully grown adults had to gain the approval of other adults. In truth, she had never been in a relationship that would require her to meet anyone of any significance to the other person, and that was how she usually preferred to keep it. However, seeing the way Scully’s eyes had welled with tears when she had agreed to the meeting and, looking across the table at her as she was, glimmering with happiness and contentment, she knew it was something she had to do.</p><p>They paid the bill and decided to head straight back to Scully’s, although they had planned to have a drink or two at the bar next door, Scully’s eyelids had begun to droop and Stella could tell that her temperature was beginning to creep up again.</p><p>It had just begun to drizzle when they approached Scully’s apartment block, Stella released her hand she had been holding and opened the door, ushering Scully in ahead.</p><p>“You okay?” she asked as they walked up the stairs.</p><p>“Mmm, I will be after a hot shower.”</p><p>Scully momentarily closed her eyes when she felt Stella’s hand on her lower back. Though Stella was unaware of the significance of that touch in that particular place, it was a welcome yet bittersweet sensation for Scully.</p><p>“Are you sure you’re okay?” Stella pressed as Scully unlocked the door.</p><p>“Absolutely fine,” she confirmed. “I promise I’d tell you if I wasn’t.”</p><p>She led them inside and turned on a few lamps, casting a seductive glow through the space and immediately pulling her blanket from over the back of the couch.</p><p>“Let me join you in the shower,” Stella said. “I’ll wash your hair if you’d like.”</p><p>“That sounds like heaven,” Scully sighed, smiling appreciatively.</p><p>“Take some more of these,” Stella instructed, throwing over a bottle of pills which Scully caught easily. “And I’ll get in, make sure the water’s nice and warm.”</p><p>Scully nodded and filled a small glass at the sink, swallowing a couple of tablets as Stella walked to the bathroom. She discarded her blanket and followed her down the small corridor but, instead of turning left and into the bathroom, she continued on and into her bedroom, where she brushed through her hair and removed her makeup.</p><p>When she entered the bathroom, the air was thick and heavy with steam and the mirror was completely fogged up, despite the fact that Stella had turned on the extractor fan. Scully smiled at the sound of Stella humming quietly to herself behind the shower curtain, unaware the Scully had entered the space; she could smell the fruity tones of her shampoo.</p><p>Making a point of clattering the heels of her boots as she removed them, letting Stella know that she was there, Scully stripped herself of her clothes and placed them in a neat bundle on top of the folded pile of Stella’s by the sink. She carefully drew back a small section of the shower curtain and stepped over the edge of her bath.</p><p>Stella was standing under the head of the shower, rinsing the last of the conditioner from her hair. Opening her eyes as soon as she heard Scully enter, Stella smiled and stepped towards her. She ran her warm, wet hands up and down the goosebumps that had formed on Scully’s arms and, after kissing her gently on the cheek, eased Scully around her and under the hot stream of water.</p><p>Scully hummed appreciatively at the warmth as she turned to rinse her face, immediately feeling Stella’s touch on her shoulders, before hearing her click open the shampoo bottle. She turned back to face Stella and quickly rinsed her hair, then turned around again, allowing Stella to entangle her fingers in it.</p><p>“Oh my god,” she sighed when Stella began to massage her scalp.</p><p>“Is that nice, sweetheart?” Stella murmured, relishing in the small sounds of appreciation Scully was making.</p><p>“Yes,” Scully whispered, squeezing her eyes closed.</p><p>Stella had never called her anything other than “Dana” before and so it made her heart flutter that little bit quicker and she wondered whether it had been intentional, something Stella had considered saying before she spoke, or whether it had just happened. Either way, Stella hadn’t seemed to notice or react in a way that Scully would have predicted, having just addressed her using a pet name: something she had previously thought was so unlike anything Stella would do. It was then she realised, she still had a lot more to learn about her.</p><p>Gently, Stella used Scully’s shoulders to turn her and encouraged her back under the water to rinse, before applying conditioner in the same manner. Scully was untangling the last knot with her nails, when Stella reached for the soap and lathered up her hands, first washing and rinsing herself, all the while maintaining searing eye contact with Scully, before returning her attention to her.</p><p>“Your turn,” she said, biting her lip ever so slightly.</p><p>Scully nodded and stepped closer to Stella, trembling at the sensation of her running her slick hands slowly down her arms and then along her stomach, up to her breasts.</p><p>“Fuck,” she sighed.</p><p>“Good idea,” Stella smirked, grazing her thumbs over the tiny raised pebbles of Scully’s nipples.</p><p>After thoroughly applying the foamy suds to her upper body, Stella spent some time massaging Scully’s hips before slowly sinking to her knees on the white porcelain, lightly scratching her way down her thighs as she did so. She continued her trail down her calves, taking her time to massage the firm muscles she found there.</p><p>“You’ve really taken to running, haven’t you?” Stella commented.</p><p>“Yeah,” Scully hummed, peering down at Stella through the steam.</p><p>“I’m impressed.”</p><p>Stella rose higher onto her knees, keeping her hands where they were, rubbing the backs of Scully’s legs firmly, and ran her nose then her lips over the now slightly firmer area of Scully’s lower abdomen.</p><p>“You’re beautiful, always,” Stella pressed into her skin.</p><p>Scully cupped the back of her head with one hand, holding her there for a moment, and then used the other to encourage her back to her feet so that they were stood face to face once more. She backed them both under the shower head, where they kissed and touched for a while, Stella’s fingers eventually finding themselves holding on to the cross around Scully’s neck.</p><p>“Is this new?” she breathed into Scully’s mouth.</p><p>“Mmm, no,” Scully replied, attempting but failing to remove her necklace from Stella’s grip. “I’ve had it since I was a little girl.”</p><p>“I haven’t seen it; you weren’t wearing it in London.”</p><p>“Doesn’t matter,” Scully dismissed, eyes still closed, lips still determinedly working against Stella’s.</p><p>“It does matter,” Stella persisted, keeping hold of the cross and pressing the thumb of her other hand onto Scully’s lips. “I didn’t know you were religious.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Scully panted with a shrug, mildly irritated and incredibly turned on, anxious to resume their previous activities.</p><p>“Catholic?”</p><p>“Jeeze, Stella, yes! I’m Catholic! I don’t see why you care.”</p><p>“Of course I care,” Stella said, pushing Scully’s hair back and out of her eyes. “It’s interesting.”</p><p>“Not really.”</p><p>“It really is,” Stella insisted with a smirk. “I’m assuming you go to Mass?”</p><p>“Yes,” Scully sighed, her irritation evident. “Every Sunday, with my mother.”</p><p>“Mmm, I wonder what your priest would think if he could see you now, here with me, my hand between your thighs.”</p><p>With that, Stella lowered her hand and cupped Scully so firmly it made her gasp.</p><p>“Touching you the way I touch you,” she continued, running her nails through her pubic hair. “Making you scream, the way you beg for me to make you come.”</p><p>Scully’s eyes glazed over as Stella’s touches became more deliberate and focused.</p><p>“What would he think if he could see what I was doing to you now, if he could feel what I feel, how wet you are, how much you want me.”</p><p>“Stella,” Scully moaned, closing her eyes.</p><p>“No,” Stella stopped her. “Keep them open. I want you to look at me when I’m speaking to you. Look at my lips.”</p><p>Scully did as she was told and watched as Stella formulated the words that were responsible for the increasing moisture between her legs, the way in which she anointed Stella’s fingers with her arousal.</p><p>“What would the congregation think if they knew what we did together, if they knew what you did to me with your lips, your tongue, your hands that you use to shake theirs to offer them peace each week?”</p><p>“Stella,” Scully moaned, grinding greedily against Stella’s thumb as it began to put pressure on her clitoris.</p><p>“I bet they think you’re so pure,” Stella whispered, satisfied at the feeling of Scully beginning to ride her hand. “So chaste and unassuming…”</p><p>“They do,” Scully muttered.</p><p>“I like that,” Stella continued.</p><p>She quickly removed her fingers and, before Scully could summon a protest, spun her around so that Scully’s back was flush with Stella’s front. Immediately, Stella returned her right hand to it’s place between Scully’s legs and rested her left on Scully’s prominent rib cage, as she arched her back against the blonde.</p><p>“Oh, <em>shit</em>, Stella,” Scully almost grunted, throwing a hand back to grasp her hair, while the other curled behind them and pressed into Stella’s behind, encouraging her to grind against her.</p><p>“I like how they don’t have a clue about what we do together,” Stella resumed.</p><p>“They don’t have a clue,” Scully whimpered, feeling herself begin to crest.</p><p>“They can never know, it’d be indecent, so I’ll have to remain your secret.”</p><p>“Love you, Stella,” Scully sighed, turning to press her face into Stella’s cheek as she came with a shudder after bucking a few more times against her thumb.</p><p>Stella kissed her nose and then one Scully’s closed eyelids, while continuing to stimulate her gently, ensuring that she was elongating her orgasm for as long as possible. When it was clear that Scully was completely finished, Stella removed her touch and placed her hand on Scully’s stomach, feeling her body soften against hers.</p><p>Holding her up for a while, Stella followed suit when she felt Scully begin to straighten and remove her bottom from the c-shaped curve Stella had created for her against her front.</p><p>“Where did that come from?” Scully giggled, throwing her arms playfully around Stella’s neck as if she was revived.</p><p>“I honestly don’t know, but I dare say you liked it,” Stella smirked.</p><p>“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sit through Mass with a straight face again.”</p><p>“I hope you can’t,” Stella said, kissing her slowly.</p><p>Scully took Stella’s hand in hers and lifted it.</p><p>“You’re all wet,” she commented.</p><p>“Don’t worry about that,” Stella said, her eyes glimmering mischievously. “Watch.”</p><p>She pulled her hand from Scully’s and examined the residue that coated her fingers and was slowly accumulating in her palm. Scully couldn’t help but gasp as she watched, wide-eyed, as Stella lowered her hand and began to tease herself, using Scully’s fluids as a lubricant.</p><p>“Come here,” Stella purred, grasping Scully’s shoulder with her free hand and pulling them together once more.</p><p>She began to move her fingers quickly, working herself hard from the outset, digging her nails into Scully’s fair skin as her pleasure began to rapidly build. She encouraged Scully to bury her fist in her hair and hold it firmly, pulling back ever so slightly as she kissed her with unrelenting hunger. It wasn’t long before Scully began to squirm herself, feeling the back of Stella’s hand nudge unintentionally against her own sensitive clitoris as she determinedly hurried towards her completion.</p><p>“Pull harder,” Stella groaned, wincing as Scully obeyed.</p><p>“Is that good?” Scully whispered.</p><p>“Yes, Dana,” Stella hissed. “So good.”</p><p>She opened her eyes and looked at Scully frantically, feeling her climax building and building.</p><p>“Kiss me,” Stella demanded.</p><p>Scully gave the clump of hair she had encased in her fist another firm yank before she pressed her lips against Stella’s, allowing her to kiss her ravenously. Soon enough Stella was panting, the spray from the shower pelting down on both of them as she rose onto her toes when her orgasm became so tantalisingly close and groaned deeply when it finally hit, her knees bending into the pleasure.</p><p>Scully released her hair and wrapped both arms around Stella’s torso, holding her up and kissing her sloppily as she regulated her breathing.</p><p>“Your heart is hammering,” Scully pointed out.</p><p>“Yeah,” Stella exhaled, smiling drowsily.</p><p>“I liked watching you do that,” Scully admitted.</p><p>“I liked you watching.”</p><p>Stella gave her one last squeeze before they parted and rinsed under the cooling water. They stepped out of the shower and took it in turns to dry each other off, Scully content in letting her hair dry naturally, while Stella insisted that her own had to be blow dried, otherwise it would be a nightmare in the morning. At that, Scully vacated the bathroom, leaving her to it, and padded down to her bedroom, wrapped in her towel, cheeks a happy shade of rose pink.</p><p>She hummed as she roughly towelled at her hair, before pulling on a fresh pair of pyjamas and drawing her bedroom curtains.</p><p>Scully was sitting up in bed, reading, when Stella finally joined her, hair immaculately straight and face full of serum.</p><p>“What’s that?” she asked, nodding at the book.</p><p>“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Scully told her, flashing the front cover. “I started reading it years ago but couldn’t concentrate.”</p><p>“Try and get through it this time, it’s good,” Stella said, settling down onto her pillows.</p><p>“Another night, maybe.”</p><p>Scully slid her bookmark between the pages and placed the paperback on her nightstand, turning off her lamp and rolling towards Stella in the darkness, spooning up behind her.</p><p>“I wasn’t joking about your church not approving of our relationship,” Stella admitted quietly. “I’m guessing your faith is very important to you and I don’t want that to change.”</p><p>Scully sighed and held her tighter, kissing her bare shoulder.</p><p>“And I wasn’t joking when I told you I love you,” Scully said. “I don’t expect them to understand or approve in any way, I knew what the consensus would be, what people would say if they knew, when I agreed to go home with you that night. The truth is, I don’t care anymore, Stella. My faith <em>is</em> very important to me and has pulled me through a lot, has comforted me when I have felt pain like no other and loneliness so cutting I thought I’d die of it. I truly believe that God is looking down at me now but I refuse to believe that he would deny me this… this second chance of happiness that I was given with you. In fact, sometimes, I think it must have been God who gave me you.”</p><p>Stella tensed, then shifted against her.</p><p>“You know, Dana, I was with you all the way until that last part,” she said, snickering in the darkness.</p><p>“What?” Scully deadpanned. “You refuse to believe you’re a gift from God, Stella Gibson?”</p><p>“I think that might be the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said to me.”</p><p>“Ridiculously true,” Scully spoke into her hair.</p><p>Stella shook her head and brushed her off.</p><p>“What about your mother? I hate that I’m even concerned about this, but what do you think she’ll make of me?”</p><p>“Stella,” Scully asserted. “It is impossible not to love you. Honestly, I know she’ll find this first meeting difficult, but I think when she sees that this is real and you’re not someone I’m going to give up in a couple of months, she’ll come around.”</p><p>“I hope so, for your sake more than my own. I know how close you both are and I don’t want to come between you.”</p><p>“You won’t. She’s learnt to live with all of the ways I’ve disappointed her so far, so why should this be any different?” Scully sighed, shaking her head.</p><p>“Dana,” Stella soothed, turning and pulling her into her chest. “She can’t hold what happened with William against you.”</p><p>“She shouldn’t,” Scully corrected. “But she does, I know she does. She told me herself she believed my decision to be wrong, that I should have fought harder for him.”</p><p>“Nobody fought harder than you did,” Stella said, kissing her forehead.</p><p>“Well… she doesn’t see it that way. Just like she doesn’t see why I had to give up my career in medicine the first time round, why I didn’t marry Mulder, why I left Mulder, why I flew to England and turned into a lesbian.”</p><p>“Is that what she said?” Stella scoffed.</p><p>“Unfortunately, yes.”</p><p>“Fuck me… that is sort of funny,” Stella smirked into Scully’s hairline.</p><p>“It is, really, isn’t it?” Scully softened, yawning.</p><p>“Dana, it’s fucking hilarious.”</p><p>Scully closed her eyes and smiled into Stella’s chest as she began to stroke her hair, pressing a few more kisses to her head as she did so. She quickly gave into sleep, soothed by the feeling of her lover’s heart thudding beneath her cheek, wrapped in the safety of her arms.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This one was massively inspired by msrafterdark's brilliant 'Gillian's Request', which can be found here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17013009/chapters/39996645</p><p>I've just started writing the third part of Stella's visit, where she meets Maggie for the first time... and I think we all know how that's going to go... </p><p>Keep any requests coming, either as comments here or Asks on my Tumblr (palepinkpores), I'm always so interested to see what you'd like to read!</p><p>As always, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this and an even bigger thank you in advance to those of you who comment, your words really motivate me to write more. ❤️</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Lucid, Part Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Oh, fuck, <em>fuck</em>,” Scully gasped coming to an abrupt stop, clutching her side and hunching over, her other hand on one of her bent knees.</p><p>“Okay?” Stella called from up ahead.</p><p>She turned to look over her shoulder, immediately stopping upon seeing Scully bent double.</p><p>“Don’t slump, Dana,” Stella said, turning and jogging to her side. “Stand up straight, put pressure on it and breathe deeply.”</p><p>“I hate this,” Scully heaved, doing as Stella had instructed.</p><p>“It’ll get easier, just be patient with yourself.”</p><p>Scully shook her head.</p><p>“Don’t stop for me, keep going.”</p><p>Still panting and guided by Stella’s insistent hand, she straightened up and pressed her palm more firmly into the stitch that had settled just below her ribs.</p><p>“It’s fine,” Stella told her, perfectly composed and not even slightly out of breath.</p><p>“But we’ve only been running for… eighteen minutes!” Scully exclaimed, glancing down at her watch to confirm. “You haven’t even broken a sweat!”</p><p>“Dana, it’s <em>fine</em>. My legs aren’t in it today anyway.”</p><p>Scully huffed, irritated, as they walked slowly along the track in the almost deserted park. It was just after half past seven on Stella’s penultimate day with her and, as Scully’s illness was steadily improving, they had set out on an early morning run with the plan to eat out for breakfast when they’d finished.</p><p>“Let’s walk back and freshen up,” Stella suggested, linking her arm through Scully’s.</p><p>With Scully still breathing heavily, they walked back the way they had just jogged in silence. Stella pretended not to notice Scully blinking away her tears of frustration and chose to let her regain her composure before planting a reassuring kiss on her shoulder.</p><p>“You’ll get there,” Stella mumbled into her skin.</p><p>“I know,” Scully sighed, her teary frustration still evident.</p><p>The morning was dark and frozen and both women had begun to shiver when Scully’s apartment block came into sight, having cooled down significantly on the walk back. They changed their clothes and freshened up before setting off on foot to Scully’s favourite brunch place.</p><p>***</p><p>The day passed unbelievably quickly and, before Stella knew it, her clammy palm was nestled in Scully’s and they were making their way through the doors of Maggie’s restaurant of choice.</p><p>“Okay?” Scully checked, throwing her a sympathetic smile.</p><p>“I think so,” Stella nodded unconvincingly, pulling away from Scully as she walked.</p><p>She had never felt so self-conscious in all her adult life.</p><p>Though they themselves had arrived fifteen minutes early, the host had informed them that the rest of their party were already seated and waiting for them. Scully had thought her phrasing to be strange, as they were only dining with her mother, but, as they followed their waiter to their table, Scully’s eyes closed in exasperation when she saw that Maggie was not sitting alone. As they approached, a larger, round table came into view, at which Margaret Scully was chatting happily to her two sons and daughter in law.</p><p>“Oh,” Stella uttered, just as surprised as Scully.</p><p>“I’m so sorry,” Scully told her, pausing momentarily and turning to her as their waiter ushered them over. “I had no idea… she told me it would just be the three of us.”</p><p>“It’s alright,” Stella winced.</p><p>“It’ll be okay,” Scully sighed. “We just need to get through it.”</p><p>With that, Scully turned and fixed her mother with a pointed look as they approached the table.</p><p>“Well!” Maggie exclaimed, a smile plastered across her face which told both women she knew exactly what she had done. “You know what they say, the more the merrier!”</p><p>“A little warning would have been nice,” Scully muttered into Maggie’s ear as she leant in to kiss her on the cheek.</p><p>“Stella doesn’t mind, do you Stella?” Maggie continued, her smile not faltering once.</p><p>“Not at all,” Stella smiled, now perfectly composed and ready for whatever the Scully family had in store for her.</p><p>Scully stood to the side and, as Maggie made no move to greet her, Stella held out her hand, which Scully noticed was now perfectly steady. Stella met Maggie’s eye unwaveringly and even managed to offer her another smile, though it wasn’t reciprocated by the older woman.</p><p>“Stella, this is my older brother, Bill, and his wife, Tara,” Scully interrupted, embarrassed by her mother’s coolness towards her new partner and eager to rouse the three other occupants of the table, who all appeared to be holding their breath, agog at the awkwardness of the exchange playing out in front of them.</p><p>“Bill Scully,” Bill nodded, eyeing Stella warily.</p><p>“Stella Gibson,” Stella matched, shaking his hand firmly.</p><p>“Oh, Stella, it’s so wonderful to meet you,” Tara gushed, moving around Bill as he took his seat once more. “Dana’s told us absolutely nothing about you, but I’m sure we’ll learn everything over dinner!”</p><p>“I’m sure you will,” Stella agreed, amused at the puppy-dog friendliness of Scully’s sister in law.</p><p>“And this is my baby brother, Charlie,” Scully continued, motioning with her hand in Charlie’s direction.</p><p>“Great to meet you, Stella,” Charlie said warmly.</p><p>“And you, Charlie,” Stella agreed, shaking his hand when he offered his.</p><p>“I think we should sit,” Scully decided after a beat of silence. “There’s a waiter over there who’s dying to take a drinks order, I think.”</p><p>The remaining members of the party took their seats around Bill, who had already started to study the menu while the rest of the introductions were being made. Sliding into a chair next to Stella, Scully discreetly reached for her hand under the table, and exhaled her relief when Stella gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.</p><p>Wine was ordered, followed by starters and mains and, as Charlie poured the white and Scully the red, all eyes turned to Stella.</p><p>“It really is lovely to meet you all,” Stella tried. “I know how important Dana’s family is to her.”</p><p>“We’re so excited to get to know you, Stella, and I just love your accent! I don’t think I’ve ever met a real English person before,” Tara enthused.</p><p>“Oh, well,” Stella chuckled, groping for a response. “I hope I live up to your expectations.</p><p>“I’m sure you will,” Charlie chipped in. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen my big sister this happy and I think that’s all down to you, in fact, I know it is.”</p><p>“Cheers to that,” Tara added, leading a toast to Stella.</p><p>Scully giggled as she observed the rare blush that heated Stella’s cheekbones causing her to look down modestly into her lap for a moment.</p><p>“And to you all, thank you for such a warm welcome,” Stella raised her glass and took a generous mouthful.</p><p>“Always lived in London, Stella?” Bill asked.</p><p>Scully rolled her eyes internally at the question so typical of her brother: practical, status assessing, boring.</p><p>“All my life in various suburbs,” Stella told him simply, smiling at the unexpected effort he was making.</p><p>“Even for college?”</p><p>“Yes, I got my degree in anthropology at UCL and pursued law enforcement from there.”</p><p>“Impressive.”</p><p>Bill raised his eyebrows and Scully smirked into the hand she was leaning on.</p><p>“I wouldn’t say impressive, but I worked hard. I still do,” Stella said.</p><p>“At the… what do you call yourselves in London? The Met?”</p><p>“That’s the one.”</p><p>“Let me guess…detective something or other.”</p><p>“Detective chief inspector, for now at least.”</p><p>“You’re ambitious,” Bill acknowledged, clearly impressed.</p><p>“I am,” Stella agreed with a nod.</p><p>“Jesus, Bill,” Scully scoffed.</p><p>“I’m making an effort,” Bill insisted. “Taking an interest.”</p><p>“What is it that you do, Bill?” Stella reciprocated, deciding to throw him a bone despite the fact that Scully had told her everything about both of her brothers over the course of their time together.</p><p>The conversation between the two of them took off from there, beginning with Bill launching into what Scully considered to be a fully fledged seminar about his career in the US Navy. It was something that she herself had heard so many times before, she felt confident that if he was to have spontaneously combusted right then and there, she would have been able to seamlessly pick up where he left off, finish and lead an in- depth Q&amp;A afterwards.</p><p>As if reading her mind, Charlie caught her eye and rolled his discreetly, drawing a smirk out of his older sister, while their mother and sister-in-law looked on oblivious to their interaction.</p><p>“How’s Matty, Tara?” Scully asked, just as Bill began to outline to Stella just how much power and influence his role afforded him.</p><p>“Oh, he’s just fine,” Tara smiled. “Enjoying his new school, his baseball- we get on well with the neighbours and they’ve got a boy the same age as Matty so they hit it off from the get go.”</p><p>“That’s nice,” Scully nodded with genuine care and interest. “How did he find the move? It’s a big change for him.”</p><p>“He’s been okay, a little unsure at first, which we were expecting, but his teacher and the school have been great with him and it’s all fallen into place from there.”</p><p>“Maybe now they’re only a couple of miles away, you could visit him more,” Maggie suggested, raising her eyebrows slightly at Scully. “Spend some time with him, take him out, get to know him.”</p><p>“Yes,” Scully smiled tightly. “That is what I’ve been planning to do, I just thought I’d give them some time to settle in first.”</p><p>“Maybe that’s something I could dedicate a little more time to as well,” Charlie cut in. “I’ve spent the least time with Matty out of anyone, I’m practically a stranger at Christmas and Thanksgiving.”</p><p>“Mmm, well, that’s different for you, Charlie…” Maggie softened.</p><p>“Not really, in fact, I think I’m the one with the poorest excuse,” he insisted. “Dana’s had a lot going on these past few years and, now with Stella as well, she’s stretched even thinner.”</p><p>Scully repressed a sigh when she saw her mother’s fingers tighten around the stem of her wine glass.</p><p>“I’m sure, if you can find time to fly to London and then fly your new… fly Stella all the way out here whenever you feel like it, you can find all the time in the world for your nephew.”</p><p>“I can,” Scully said simply, her heart beginning to hammer.</p><p>“Good,” Maggie nodded. “Just so we’re clear about where your priorities should lie.”</p><p>Across the table, Tara’s mouth dropped open and Charlie fumbled with his napkin, trying desperately to swallow the raising anger he felt about the way in which his mother was speaking to his sister. A trill of laughter from Stella snapped them out of it and the four of them watched as Bill and Stella turned their attention back to the rest of the group.</p><p>“Sorry,” Bill said. “We got to chatting.”</p><p>“That was rude of us,” Stella agreed. “But, as it happens, we’ve a lot to talk about.”</p><p>“We definitely do,” Bill nodded.</p><p>He leant back in his chair and eyed Stella admiringly, something, Scully noted, he had never done with Mulder.</p><p>“No matter, it looks like our starters are here anyway,” Tara smiled, nodding towards the waiters that were approaching their table once more, their arms laden with various dishes.</p><p>They ate in a steady silence, with Bill and Stella continuing to be absolutely oblivious to the exchange that had taken place between Scully and Maggie. Charlie and Tara made the occasional attempts to catch Scully’s eye but she mostly kept her eyes trained on her mushrooms, which she merely pushed around her plate. Next to her, Stella sipped her wine and hummed appreciatively upon tasting her prawns.</p><p>“Good?” Charlie smiled.</p><p>“Very,” she nodded.</p><p>She glanced to her right and noticed that Scully was gazing across the room, over Charlie’s shoulder. As if on cue, Tara announced that she was thinking of joining the school’s PTA and she needed some fundraising ideas to take to the first meeting. Immediately, the other Scullys were occupied which afforded Stella the opportunity to abandon her cutlery and place her hand on Scully’s thigh, questioning her with an inquisitive frown.</p><p>“I’m fine,” Scully shook her head dismissively.</p><p>Stella tilted her gaze, unconvinced, just before they were interrupted.</p><p>“Any children in your family, Stella?” Bill enquired.</p><p>Stella jumped and moved her hand back into her own lap as if she’d been burnt.</p><p>“Children? No,” she replied. “I’m an only child and so were my parents, so no cousins either, just me.”</p><p>“Did you not find yourself to be lonely as a child, Stella?” Maggie asked.</p><p>“I had lots of friends at school and was very close with the children next door, so I didn’t have the time to be lonely, fortunately.”</p><p>Maggie raised her eyebrows as Stella smiled demurely over at her.</p><p>“I couldn’t imagine a house devoid of children,” Maggie continued. “It’s… different, soulless.”</p><p>“I don’t think I’d have done well with siblings, I always liked my own space and the independence and maturity being an only child afforded me,” Stella said. “In a way, I think my friendships were deeper, more meaningful because of it.”</p><p>“And is that how you’d describe your friendship with Dana?” Maggie shot.</p><p>Stella’s mouth dropped open before she could stop it and she was momentarily lost for words.</p><p>“My… my <em>relationship</em> with Dana is-”</p><p>She jumped as Scully dropped her fork with a clatter and pushed her chair away from the table.</p><p>“Excuse me,” Scully muttered to the floor, unable to bring herself to look at Maggie or anyone else at the table as she stalked across the restaurant.</p><p>Tara made to follow her but was dissuaded by Charlie’s gentle hand on her shoulder.</p><p>“Just give her a minute,” he advised, smiling kindly at her intention.</p><p>Stella bent to pick up Scully’s discarded napkin from the floor and arranged her cutlery neatly on her plate, tucking her chair in before pushing her own plate away slightly, abandoning the rest of her prawns.</p><p>“My relationship with Dana is just that,” Stella began, her tone steady and firm. “A relationship. It’s still very new, but I think of her as my girlfriend, my partner and I love her.”</p><p>“You <em>love</em> her,” Maggie openly scoffed. “You barely know her.”</p><p>“Mom,” Bill spoke up, frowning his disapproval from his place at her side.</p><p>“Dana has had an extremely difficult few years,” Maggie continued. “In fact, it hasn’t been easy from her first day at the FBI and onwards. She had finally found some peace, had settled with Fox in their home, and then she met you and suddenly she has all of these ideas about being a… a lesbian and it makes no sense whatsoever! There wasn’t as much of an inkling of Dana being attracted to women before and then she came back from London with her head full of it and it makes no sense!”</p><p>“With all due respect, Mrs Scully, I don’t think Dana has ever claimed to be a lesbian and I think her attraction to me surprised her just as much as it has you,” Stella said calmly. “She wasn’t looking to meet anyone while she was in London and nor was I the night we met, but I knew there was something special about your daughter the moment I met her. I also know that she and Fox had separated before Dana visited Lisa. She was unhappy and needed a break from her life, so please don’t try and paint me as a homewrecker because we both know that’s not what I am.”</p><p>Maggie stared at her, stunned.</p><p>“Dana is an adult, Mom,” Charlie said when no one else could find the words. “She knows her own mind and can make her own decisions.”</p><p>“She is <em>vulnerable</em>, Charlie,” Maggie spat. “She is processing trauma. Dana is in no position to throw her life away for a woman she barely knows.”</p><p>“Dana isn’t throwing her life away, Maggie,” Tara timidly interjected, flinching when Maggie shook away her comforting touch. “She is doing remarkably well to keep going: to go to work every day, to take care of herself as well as she does. Most people who had been through what she has would struggle to get out of bed in the morning, whereas Dana is doing that and more.”</p><p>“Don’t patronise me, Tara, please,” Maggie warned her, jerking her arm away from her once more.</p><p>“She isn’t patronising you, Mom, what Tara is saying is true,” Bill sighed.</p><p>“I thought you of all people would understand, Bill,” Maggie said, her voice beginning to shake at his perceived betrayal. “What would your father think of all of this? Of you going against me?”</p><p>“I’m not going against you, Mom, but you can’t deny that Dana is happy in a way we haven’t seen since before she gave William up.”</p><p>“<em>Don’t</em> drag William into this, please,” Maggie uttered.</p><p>Tara and Charlie looked around self-consciously as the discussion became more heated.</p><p>“Maggie,” Stella tried. “I know this must be difficult for you, but I promise I only have Dana’s best interests at heart. She has told me about everything she has been through and I need to assure you that I’m not here to take advantage of her or cause her pain in any way, especially by being the cause of any difficulties between the two of you. I understand that I’m not Fox, I’m not what you want for your daughter, but I love her very much and I know it would mean everything to Dana if you would give me a chance to prove that to you.”</p><p>Maggie shook her head.</p><p>“I need some air,” she whispered, blinking back tears as she stood and headed in the opposite direction to the one in which Scully had taken.</p><p>“I’ll go,” Charlie said.</p><p>He stood and walked around the table to follow her.</p><p>“You’ve done nothing wrong,” he told Stella, squeezing her shoulder as he passed her.</p><p>Stella swallowed and the three remaining members of the party watched him weave around the waiters and other diners as he retraced his mother’s steps.</p><p>“Bill, Tara, I’m so sorry. We knew this evening would be difficult, but this wasn’t what we intended,” Stella told them.</p><p>“Stella,” Tara began, scooting into Scully’s empty chair to sit next to her. “ Charlie’s right, this isn’t your fault.”</p><p>“It isn’t, Stella,” Bill agreed sheepishly.</p><p>Stella looked down as she nodded, clearing her throat before beginning to stand.</p><p>“I’ll go and check on Dana,” she said, smiling weakly.</p><p>Feeling their eyes on her, she walked briskly in the direction of the restroom. Her head was spinning and she felt sick at the thought of having to return Scully to the table and continuing with the meal.</p><p>The ladies’ room was empty when she pushed open the heavy door. All of the cubicles were empty apart from the one at the very end, the one furthest away from where she was standing.</p><p>“Dana? Are you in there?” she asked, tapping gently on the wood between them as she approached.</p><p>Without a reply, the lock was released and the red ‘Engaged’ was switched for a green ‘Vacant’ as the door swung open and revealed Scully, with her head in her hands, sitting on the closed lid of the toilet.</p><p>“Hi,” Stella pouted.</p><p>“Hey,” Scully sniffed, looking up at her.</p><p>“Come on,” Stella said, crouching down in front of her and opening her arms to her partner.</p><p>Carefully, as not to disturb Stella’s balance, Scully leaned forward and allowed herself to be held for a moment.</p><p>“I’m so sorry, Dana,” Stella said after a while.</p><p>“Not your fault,” Scully unknowingly echoed Tara.</p><p>Stella leaned back and kissed her on the forehead, before standing and offering her hand too. Stella led her out of the cubicle and over to the sink.</p><p>“Oh, god, look at me,” Scully groaned, taking in her smudged face.</p><p>“It’s alright,” Stella told her.</p><p>She pulled a wad of paper towels from the basket between two of the sinks and wiped beneath Scully’s eyes, along each cheek bone and under her nose. Stella then dug some concealer, mascara and lip gloss out from her bag and began to fix Scully’s face for her.</p><p>“There,” she said, tilting her head to admire her work. “As beautiful as ever.”</p><p>Scully turned to examine herself in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot and still quite puffy- it was obvious that she had been crying.</p><p>“What happened after I left?” she asked Stella’s reflection.</p><p>“Your mother and I… had it out… a little.”</p><p>“Had it out?” Scully questioned.</p><p>“We discussed things very… frankly.”</p><p>“Oh,” Scully sighed.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“How did it go?”</p><p>“Well, we were both very honest with each other but it didn’t go well.”</p><p>“I don’t know why I dared to hope that it would be any different.”</p><p>“There’s nothing wrong with being optimistic,” Stella comforted her.</p><p>“Mmm,” Scully turned towards her and leant in for a brief kiss. “I don’t want to go back out there.”</p><p>“I know you don’t, honey, but we don’t really have a choice.”</p><p>“How were the others?”</p><p>“They were really understanding,” Stella said, taking her hand and squeezing it encouragingly. “I can tell Bill is uncomfortable, but he’s trying.”</p><p>“At least that’s something…”</p><p>Stella pulled her in for another cuddle, before retaking her hand and kissing her knuckles.</p><p>“Come on,” she said. “In a few hours this will all be over and we’ll be tucked up in bed.”</p><p>Scully sighed and gave her a lacklustre smile, allowing herself to be led out of the restroom and back to the table.</p><p>***</p><p>“I’m tempted to make them Irish,” Stella joked, eyeing the bottle of whiskey on top of Scully’s kitchen counter as she handed her one of the mugs of coffee she had made for them.</p><p>“Thanks,” Scully said, taking a sip as the couch dipped next to her.</p><p>“Do you want to talk about it?” Stella asked.</p><p>“I don’t know what to say.”</p><p>“Just say how you feel,” Stella suggested, blowing on her steaming mug.</p><p>Scully leant forward to put her coffee on the table in front of them before resting her elbows on her knees.</p><p>“I feel stupid for being this disappointed,” Scully admitted. “What did I expect, really? Was I that naive to even hope my mom would react in any other way?”</p><p>“Dana, you’re anything but stupid,” Stella sighed.</p><p>She placed her mug on the table next to Scully’s and began to rub her back, first over the material of her shirt, then running her palm under the hem of the material and over the soft skin of her bare back.</p><p>“I’d completely understand,” Stella began. “If you wanted to call it a day on us for the sake of your family.”</p><p>She closed her eyes, regretting the lack of tact in her phrasing when she felt Scully tense beneath her touch.</p><p>“Are you being serious?” Scully demanded, her eyes flaring as she whipped around to face Stella.</p><p>“I didn’t mean… you know what I mean,” Stella sighed, moving with her and applying a little extra pressure with her hand, feeling Scully’s ribs expand as she began to breathe more deeply. “If our love for each other is going to destroy your relationship with your mother, then I can get on my flight tomorrow and we can make a clean break.”</p><p>Stella felt her cheeks flush as Scully started at her, astounded.</p><p>“I know that’s not what you want, Dana, it’s not what I want either. It’ll devastate me… but your mother is everything to you, it wouldn’t be right to carry on if it’ll cause irreparable damage to your relationship with her.”</p><p>“It’s the last thing I want,” Scully whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “I can’t believe you’re even suggesting this.”</p><p>She jerked away from Stella, causing her hand to slip from the bottom of her back. Scully’s eyes glimmered with betrayal.</p><p>“Dana, it’s not what I want,” Stella repeated.</p><p>Scully’s bottom lip wobbled dangerously and she was soon unable to stop herself from crying.</p><p>“Come here,” Stella said, gently taking her into her arms. “It’ll be okay.”</p><p>She held Scully tightly against her chest, tucking her head under her chin and slowly beginning to rock them from side to side.</p><p>“I was wrong to suggest that,” Stella soothed. “It wasn’t the right thing to say; it’s not the right thing to do and I realise that now.”</p><p>Scully nodded and feebly wiped her nose on the tissue Stella plucked from her pocket and handed to her.</p><p>“It’s not your fault,” Scully gulped. “You’re trying your best in an impossible situation.”</p><p>“It’ll all work out,” Stella hummed, guiding her to sit back with her on the couch, settling her under her arm and closing her eyes when she felt Scully wrap her arms around her waist.</p><p>Her tears were wet on her jumper.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As requested by missmilla: Stella helping Scully deal with Maggie’s reaction to her relationship. In a way of hurt/comfort.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Aurora Borealis, Part One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Contains depictions of disordered eating</strong>
</p><p>Their flights landed three hours apart, with Stella’s touching down on Icelandic soil before Scully’s, leaving her a significant chunk of time to occupy after breezing through arrivals fairly quickly. She hitched her Nike hold-all more securely onto her shoulder and patted the pocket of her long, black puffer coat, feeling the assurance of her passport safe and nestled snugly in there.</p><p>Stella crossed the terminal, eyeing a small coffee shop that was empty but for one table occupied by a young man who looked to be in his early thirties. She ordered and looked at him discreetly while she waited for the barista to make her black Americano. He looked tall; though he was sitting down which made it more difficult to be accurate, Stella estimated he was around six feet two inches in height. Beneath his grey jumper, his shoulders were broad and she could tell he spent at least a couple of days per week at the gym. His hair was a dark brown and his handsome face was partially covered by a short, neatly trimmed beard. It was obvious that he took care of himself.</p><p>Paying and thanking the young woman at the till, Stella took her coffee and made her way over to the other side of the coffee shop. She sat at the table furthest away from the man but made sure she was sitting so that she was facing and had a good view of him. As he read his book, unaware that he was being watched, Stella contemplated him carefully. It was a certainty that she would have slept with him had she been single. Had she been single, she’d have chosen to sit at the table that was one away from him and made her intensions unmistakably clear. Squinting slightly, she could make out that he was reading Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ and raised her eyebrows, impressed.</p><p>An hour and a half and two coffees later, yet another surge of people poured through the arrivals gate and the man jumped up as if he had been poked by a cattle prod. Hurrying to his feet, he stuffed his book into his backpack and made his way towards the gate. Stella watched from over the top of her book as he lingered for a few minutes before rushing at a tall, modelesque young woman who looked to be around the same age as him. The woman squealed when she spotted him and allowed herself to be scooped up into his arms before planting a long, ecstatic kiss on his lips. Stella smiled as she watched him take her suitcase from her and they left the airport hand in hand.</p><p>She returned to her reading, her stomach fizzing with excitement with the knowledge that she would be with Scully again in just over an hours’ time.</p><p>They had booked the holiday four days after Stella had returned to London after visiting Scully in D.C. Ever the worrier, Scully had wondered whether it was too early in their relationship for them to be going on any kind of holiday together, never mind one that was as expensive as their mutual destination of dreams: Iceland. However, Stella had firmly put a pin in all of her partners concerns by pointing out that they already had to travel for almost half a day across the world to see each other as it was and, if one of them was going to make that trip anyway, it would be more worthwhile to meet somewhere they were both yet to explore. Scully had barely had chance to agree before Stella booked each of their return flights and sent her links to a variety of expensive hotels, immediately shushing her when, via Skype, she saw her open her mouth in protest.</p><p>“It’s all on me,” Stella asserted, waving her hand dismissively. “You can buy me lunch when we get there.”</p><p>Less than two weeks later, on a drizzly March morning, Stella had bundled herself into a taxi to Heathrow airport and taken flight to meet Scully for almost five days of adventure together.</p><p>Standing in the arrivals lounge a mere eight hours later, her stomach doing somersaults, perched high on the toes of her newly broken-in pair of Dr Martens, Stella had to fight back an uncharacteristic squeal when she saw the flicker of a red rush of hair among the crowd of newly landed mostly Americans. She hurried through the cluster of taxi drivers with their signs and the odd family member with flowers and into Scully’s path, watching her face light up as soon as she spotted her.</p><p>“Stella!” Scully called, rushing towards her and throwing her arms around her neck as soon as they made contact.</p><p>“I can’t believe it’s only been a few weeks,” Stella gushed, cupping Scully’s cheeks and kissing her on her forehead and then her lips. “You look <em>more</em> beautiful.”</p><p>Scully rolled her eyes and pulled Stella in again before stepping back and looking her up and down.</p><p>“This is a new look for you,” Scully smiled, admiring Stella’s new boots, jeans and coat. “I can see you’ve taken my packing advice, too.”</p><p>She gestured towards Stella’s hold-all, which was almost identical to the one she had secured across her body.</p><p>“I thought I’d give it a try. It is only a few days after all,” Stella smirked.</p><p>After much teasing and cajoling on the part of Scully, Stella had finally been persuaded to pack light for carry-on only and had just about managed it. Whereas Scully, a seasoned pro from her years with the FBI, couldn’t imagine doing it any other way and had been determined to get Stella to minimise her usual extravagant packing efforts.</p><p>“If I’ve forgotten anything, the blame is entirely on you,” Stella told her with a wink.</p><p>“I’ll take it,” Scully smiled, grabbing her hand and leading her through Keflavík International Airport and towards the car rental.</p><p>The icy air was a shock to the system as they weaved through the crowd together, causing Scully to pull a beanie hat from her coat pocket and quickly pull it on and down over her ears.</p><p>“Are you sure you want to drive?” she checked. “We can just get a cab to the hotel, it’s much easier.”</p><p>“I definitely want to drive. I love driving in different countries,” Stella said happily, in her element. “Besides, it’ll be easier for us to do our own thing this way, there’s nothing worse than a crowded tour bus.”</p><p>“If you say so,” Scully shrugged.</p><p>Truth be told, she was just happy they were together again.</p><p>***</p><p>They arrived at their hotel at half past three that afternoon, with Stella adjusting seamlessly to driving on the right side of the road rather than the left. She parked with ease in the hotel car park and ignored Scully’s frown as she unloaded their bags from the boot.</p><p>“This isn’t the hotel we booked…” Scully said slowly as they made their way through the entrance.</p><p>Stella said nothing and continued walking up to reception.</p><p>“Stella…” Scully persisted, hurrying after her. “This is the really expensive one!”</p><p>“What if it is?” Stella smirked, placing her handbag on the desk.</p><p>“You shouldn’t have done this; the others were lovely. They were more than lovely- I’d have been happy to stay in any of them… more than happy to-”</p><p>“Dana,” Stella interrupted. “Relax, we deserve this. <em>You</em> deserve this. I told you I want to treat you.”</p><p>Scully stood at her side and guiltily chewed her lip as Stella spoke with the receptionist and got them checked in, assuring him that they could find and carry their own bags up to their room.</p><p>“We’re in room 402, right at the top,” Stella said when they entered the empty lift.</p><p>Stella pressed the button for their floor and smiled when she realised Scully was refusing to meet her eye. They found their room in silence, with Stella ushering Scully in ahead of her as soon as the key card reader flashed green. Walking through and into the space, Scully’s eyes widened.</p><p>The room opened into a corridor leading them to a separate living area, comprising of a large grey couch with an end table either side, a sleek, black desk, holding a plethora of expensive looking stationery which, in Scully’s opinion was significantly more impressive than the standard branded notebook and pen she was used to. She smiled to herself upon remembering Mulder’s penchant for collecting them from each Motel they stayed in during their FBI days as well as their time on the run. A flatscreen TV was mounted on the wall and white, breezy curtains were draped around the almost floor to ceiling windows.</p><p>A large arch preceded a king size bed, with a black quilt cover and four pristinely white pillows, piled in two plump heaps at the head of the bed. Scully wandered over to the bed, running her hand along the extensive headboard and looked, slightly agog, out of the window, over their private balcony, and at the mesmerising view of the city beneath them.</p><p>“Stella, this is too much,” she said, turning to face her smug looking partner.</p><p>Stella joined her at the window, turned her around once more and wrapped her arms around Scully’s ever-slimming waist, propping her chin on her shoulder and inhaling the scent of her shampoo.</p><p>“You can go back downstairs and ask them for a more modest room if you really want to, but you’ll be in there by yourself,” she teased, nuzzling her neck.</p><p>Scully smiled and covered Stella’s hands with her own.</p><p>“I’m so grateful,” she told her. “I just wasn’t expecting all of this, that’s all.”</p><p>“The way I see it is we have the rest of today, three full days and then our final morning together before we go home and I don’t know when I’ll get to see you next.”</p><p>Scully hummed when Stella began to rub soothing circles into her upper chest, feeling her trace the prominence of her ribs as she did so, keeping her other arm securely around her waist.</p><p>“Let me enjoy you,” Stella requested, kissing her neck. “Please.”</p><p>Scully turned back to face her and coiled her arms around Stella’s waist. They stood almost nose to nose.</p><p>“I love it. But, more importantly, I love you. Thank you for doing this for me.”</p><p>Stella grinned and kissed her deeply, properly, running her thumbs over the feminine dips of Scully’s waist over and over again until they moved apart.</p><p>“Go and have a look at the bathroom,” Stella said. “The bath is huge- definitely built for two.”</p><p>Scully’s eyes glittered with excitement and she practically scurried out of the bedroom and back down the corridor, turning right into the sizable, white bathroom.</p><p>“Oh, shit,” Stella heard her whisper as she joined her, hot on her heels. “Look at this! I’ve never stayed anywhere this nice, nowhere that even comes close!”</p><p>The bath was, in fact, huge, and, in Scully’s opinion, could comfortably hold a whole family of people. Next to the toilet was a marble vanity unit with two sinks and a spacious walk-in shower with a rainfall shower head and more settings than she had ever seen in her life.</p><p>“We could spend the entire time in the room if you’d prefer,” Stella tempted.</p><p>“Don’t,” Scully giggled.</p><p>Stella examined the hotel’s toiletries with an expert’s eye, impressed with the quality.</p><p>“You should try a nap,” she said upon noticing Scully’s attempt at stifling a yawn. “You’ve been in the air for nearly ten hours today.”</p><p>“’m not tired,” Scully said from behind her hand.</p><p>Her second yawn and her heavy eyes suggested otherwise.</p><p>“Let’s order some room service, then we can both nap for a while and <em>then</em> go down to the spa.”</p><p>“There’s a spa?”</p><p>“Of course there’s a spa,” Stella grinned when Scully rolled her eyes in jest. “What kind of hotel doesn’t have a spa, Dana Scully?”</p><p> “Every hotel I’ve ever stayed at,” Scully pouted at her.</p><p>“Well, you’re going to love it, but first…"</p><p>Stella took her hand and led her back to the bedroom, unbuttoning her shirt and jeans as they walked.</p><p>***</p><p>Stella was swimming lengths of the pool when Scully emerged from the sauna, red and relaxed. She dropped her towel on the sunbed next to Stella’s, which was the only one that was occupied. So far, they’d had the whole of the hotel’s spa to themselves.</p><p>Self-consciously, Scully tugged the top of her tankini down over her stomach and adjusted her bottoms. Though her renewed passion for running had helped her to lose a considerable amount of weight, she was still self-conscious about her stomach and wanted to cry at the thought of anyone other than Stella seeing her stretch marks. Shaking her insecurities from her head, she made her way over to the edge of the pool and daintily sat herself down on the edge, dangling her legs into the warmth. Stella was cutting through the water with a determined front crawl, travelling in the opposite direction and unaware that she was no longer alone.</p><p>Scully looked around, moving her legs slowly, forwards and then back in the water and feeling lighter than she had in weeks. Her mother was still not speaking to her and they mainly communicated through Charlie and Bill, though they did make small talk every week at church. However, Scully was resolute- Stella was in her life to stay and Maggie would just have to live with it.</p><p>Scully was startled out of her reverie when she felt a pull at her ankles.</p><p>“Jesus, Stella!” she gasped as the blonde surfaced in front of her, laughing.</p><p>Stella pushed against Scully’s knees, encouraging her to part them around her body, before nudging her back ever so slightly on the tiles. Stella pulled herself up onto her forearms, planting her elbows either side of Scully’s thighs and snaking her hands back to cup Scully’s behind, where she squeezed the supple flesh appreciatively.</p><p>“Stella!” Scully laughed, glancing around.</p><p>“No one’s here,” Stella assured, resting her cheek against Scully’s right thigh while continuing her massage. “I don’t pay enough attention to your arse.”</p><p>“You don’t?”</p><p>“I don’t, so I shall be dedicating the entirety of this holiday to you and your perfect bottom.”</p><p>Scully pulled a face that Stella pretended not to notice, much preferring to kiss and suck at Scully’s inner thigh instead.</p><p>“Did you not get enough before our nap?” Scully hummed, stroking Stella’s hair out of her face.</p><p>“Mmm, no,” Stella told her bikini line. “I’ll never have enough.”</p><p>Scully frowned when her stomach rumbled loudly, covering  and pressing down on it with her hand, feeling self-conscious. They had gotten so carried away with each other earlier, they didn’t get round to ordering room service after all. Stella ignored it and continued with what she was doing, dragging Scully closer as she worked diligently.</p><p>“Stella,” Scully huffed a laugh, easing her lips from her skin and her head back.</p><p>Slightly flushed from her exertions, Stella looked up at her and smiled, pleased to see Scully’s chest heaving and her eyes alight with desire.</p><p>“Why don’t you join me?” Stella requested, pushing herself away from the edge, leaving enough room for Scully to slide into the water in front of her.</p><p>As soon as Scully’s shoulders were submerged, Stella had her backed against the side and was all over her like a rash, kissing her hungrily and running her hand up her top. Scully kissed her back, comfortably hooking her thumbs into Stella’s full, black swimming costume at the hips. Scully smiled when Stella began working her way down her neck, nipping at her snowy pale skin every now and then.</p><p>“Ever done it in a pool, Stella Gibson?” Scully asked.</p><p>Stella removed her lips from Scully’s clavicle just long enough for her to get a reply out: a quick “No,” was all she managed.</p><p>“Really?” Scully questioned, fully expecting a quickie in a swimming pool to be on Stella’s very long list of sexual experiences.</p><p>“Why?” Stella panted, lifting her head so that they were eye to eye. “Have you?”</p><p>Scully beamed, clearly made up to have done something that Stella had yet to.</p><p>“I have on occasion.”</p><p>Stella’s eyebrows shot up.</p><p>“Just how many occasions are we talking about?” she asked.</p><p>“Enough to know that trying it here is a really stupid idea.”</p><p>On cue, a noisy group of women exited the spa and began to set their belongings out on the sunbeds at the opposite end of the pool.</p><p>“Did I mention the hot tub outside?” Stella tempted.</p><p>She tilted her head towards a door which led out onto a balcony. Scully looked at her and smiled wryly.</p><p>“I suppose we should get your money’s worth, shouldn’t we.”</p><p>With that, they women climbed out of the pool and after a slight hesitation, decided to shove any valuables into Stella’s small handbag, taking it with their towels and leaving everything else at the poolside. Gasping as they pushed the door open, the hurried, barefoot and shrieking across the wooden slats and into the empty hot tub, groaning appreciatively as they sunk into the hot water.</p><p>“I know I keep saying it, but I can’t <em>believe</em> this place,” Scully sighed, looking out at the view of the city beneath them. “This has the same viewpoint as our room, doesn’t it?”</p><p>“Yeah, both south-facing,” Stella nodded, relaxing against the side of the tub and tipping her head back.</p><p>Once Scully had had her fill of the scenery below, she glided over to join her, sitting right next to Stella between two jets of bubbles, pulling her closer with her arm around her waist.</p><p>“You must be exhausted,” Stella said, having glanced at her watch and seeing that it was nearly ten o’clock at night.</p><p>“Mmm, I’m okay,” Scully said. “We had a long nap and I closed my eyes for a few minutes in the steam room just now, so I’m good.”</p><p>Stella pushed a few loose pieces of Scully’s now longer fringe out of her eyes before settling against her shoulder, hooking her inside leg over Scully’s. Scully pulled her in tighter still, tucking her securely under her arm, and they practically moulded themselves into one.</p><p>“I like the longer hair on you,” Stella commented.</p><p>“It’s only longer because I haven’t made an appointment in forever.”</p><p>“Well, I like it. You suit longer hair, you should let it grow out completely.”</p><p>“I might,” Scully considered. “It’s been pretty much the same since I joined the FBI all those years ago so a change would be nice.”</p><p>She rested her chin on the top of Stella’s head and slowly ran her hand up and down her back.</p><p>“A glass of wine is the only thing that could make this more perfect than it already is,” Stella sighed, kissing Scully’s collarbone.</p><p>“Yeah,” Scully agreed as she swelled with happiness. “What shall we do tomorrow?”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know,” Stella hummed, closing her eyes. “Sleep in late, make love, find somewhere nice for breakfast…”</p><p>“We need to decide what we’re doing, what we want to see while we’re here.”</p><p>“That too,” Stella smiled into Scully’s skin, her eyes still shut.</p><p>Their breathing synchronised as they listened to the city at night, only their silence was suddenly punctured by the bang of terrace door as it swung open and the whooping excitement as the women from the pool made their way over to the hot tub.</p><p>“For fuck sake!” Stella groaned into Scully’s shoulder, peeling reems of laughter from the redhead. “We need to leave, now.”</p><p>Scully continued to laugh as they stood and climbed out of the hot tub. Stella handed one of the towels to her and they gave the women a wide berth as they hurried back inside to the warmth of the pool area. After quickly drying off, they put on the white, fluffy robes from their room and made their way out of the spa and back up in the elevator.</p><p>“Why don’t you take the first shower and I’ll order some room service?” Stella suggested, dumping her bag and towel on the bed and picking up the room service menu.</p><p>“What do they have?” Scully peered over her shoulder and skimmed through the options.</p><p>Deciding quickly, she stepped back and began to pull her tankini off, hanging it over the radiator to dry.</p><p>“I’ll have one of the salads,” she called over her shoulder as she walked into the bathroom. “I don’t mind which, surprise me.”</p><p>Stella frowned as the door clicked shut and she wrinkled her nose down at the salads on the page. Chewing her finger, she perched on the end of the bed and soon decided what she would do. She reached for the phone and ordered two cheeseburgers with a side of fries each, a Caesar salad to share and a bottle of red wine. She then sat and looked worriedly at the bathroom door, through which she could hear the shower running.</p><p>Each time she had seen Scully in person, which had been twice since they first met, she had been slimmer. The first time, Stella’s visit to DC, she noticed that her stomach was flatter, her legs were more toned and beginning to become more muscular. She had even complimented her in the shower, thinking that Scully was happy with her body and that would be the end of it. However, as Scully had approached her in the airport earlier that day, Stella had been alarmed by how much more prominent her cheekbones had become. When she had undressed her in the hotel room before their trip to the spa, she inhaled sharply at the distinction of her collarbone and the way in which her upper ribs were now visible, even more so when Scully breathed in.</p><p>She reasoned with herself. Scully had a stressful job and things with her family were hardly rosy, once everything settled she would start to regain some of the weight and everything would be fine. Though if it <em>was</em> down to stress, then why, when so obviously hungry after a long day of travelling on very little food, did Scully order just a pitiful salad?</p><p>“<em>Shit!</em>” Stella cursed, slamming her palm down onto the bed, frustrated at herself for allowing it to get to this point.</p><p>Deciding not to panic, Stella went about tidying up their room and turned the television on for some background noise while she waited to use the shower. It wasn’t long before Scully emerged, wrapped in a towel and using one of the extra hand towels to roughly dry her hair.</p><p>“The shower’s amazing,” Scully told her.</p><p>Her chest was flushed with the heat.</p><p>“The food shouldn’t be long so I’ll be quick,” Stella said, smiling as convincingly as she could.</p><p>Scully nodded, plugging in her travel hairdryer. Stella brushed her shoulder with her hand as she passed and Scully tilted her head towards her touch.</p><p>In ten minutes, Stella was showered and, with damp hair and silk pyjamas, was opening the door and tipping the hotel worker for their food. She apprehensively wheeled the cart in and wondered whether she should have ordered just the salad for Scully like she’d been asked to.</p><p>“Let’s eat on the bed,” Scully said eagerly, collecting the cutlery and napkins from the cart.</p><p>“I er… I ordered you a little extra,” Stella explained, beginning to uncover the dishes. “I didn’t think the salad would be enough to fill you up.”</p><p>“Oh…” Scully’s eyes widened at the size of the cheeseburgers.</p><p>They made her salad look pathetic.</p><p>“I just wanted…”</p><p>“I know,” Stella sighed. “And I should have respected that without interfering, but I couldn’t help but think about how little you’ve eaten today.”</p><p>“Stella, I’m fine,” Scully said slowly, her face shocked, betrayed.</p><p>Stella nodded and re-covered one of the burgers. She picked up the salad bowl and handed it to Scully.</p><p>“Come on, let’s forget about it,” Stella attempted.</p><p>Unable to look at her, Scully carried her bowl with two hands and sat to eat on the couch by herself.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for your patience with this latest chapter. I was surprised to see it has been nearly a month since I last updated. It hasn't felt like a month has gone by, but at the same time January has been the longest, hardest slog of the pandemic so far for me, so thank you for waiting. </p><p>Since I started publishing Under the Moon, lots of people have messaged me privately on Tumblr asking about when this little life of Scully and Stella's takes place and how old they are. Obviously, for Scully, this would be after S9 of TXF but before IWTB (in fact, in this little universe IWTB doesn't happen, neither do S10 and S11). For Stella, I haven't decided on that just yet. We know, at this point in Aureate, she isn't Detective Superintendent yet, so events of The Fall haven't taken place and I haven't decided if they ever will... though I have been toying with some ideas.</p><p>In terms of age, at the end of S9 Scully is... 36? Though, just so things work out for the way I'm taking things in terms of them having their babies, I want to make her a few years younger, so at this moment in Aureate I've got Scully as 33 and I've always imagined Stella to be a few years younger, so I've decided she's 30. I know things like this really matter to some people, so I apologise if that's not what you want... but it works in this universe so...</p><p>Iceland has always been a place I'd like to visit, in fact it's been at the top of my list for years, so I'm living vicariously through Scully and Stella in this little section of the story. If anyone's ever visited the country themselves, please let me know, I'd like to get this as true to life as possible!</p><p>Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Aurora Borealis, Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Contains depictions of disordered eating</strong>
</p><p>Scully awoke to the sound of Stella’s electric toothbrush buzzing away in the bathroom. Rolling over to face her empty side of the bed, she cringed when she thought about the events of the evening before and a tight, sickly feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.</p><p>They had eaten their dinner in heavy silence: Scully on the couch, Stella cross-legged on the bed. Stella had looked bereft, picking at her burger and nibbling on a few fries- her appetite had clearly left her. Ironically, Scully polished off every last leaf of her salad but shook her head when Stella offered the basket of fries to her. They had gotten ready for bed separately and lain side by side in the darkness, listening to each other’s breathing, until Scully eventually dozed off with her back to Stella. Stella, alone on her side of the bed, stayed awake for hours and allowed her tears to roll off the end of her nose and dampen her pillow.</p><p>Scully got out of bed and slipped on some socks and her boots and pulled her coat over her pyjamas, before taking one of the key cards from the dresser and leaving quietly through the door, guiding it closed with a quiet click.</p><p>Minutes later, Stella walked out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of tight, black jeans with a matching camisole top tucked in. She assumed that Scully was still in bed and so pulled on a jumper that she had hung the previous day in the wardrobe opposite the bathroom door and began to think about what she was going to say to her partner. Where would she even begin?</p><p>Rubbing at her unmade-up eyes, which were itchy from lack of sleep, she decided to let Scully rest for as long as she needed to. After all, it was only just past eight o’clock and Scully had done the lion’s share of the travelling the day before. She would wait and use her phone to look up a decent place to get breakfast and then take it from there, willing to take Scully’s lead and do whatever she needed her to do.</p><p>She walked down the corridor and made to glance into the bedroom expecting Scully to be there, still sleeping. Instead, Stella did a double-take, her mouth opening slightly when she realised that she wasn’t.</p><p>“Dana?” she called, crossing into the bedroom.</p><p>She spotted Scully’s phone charging on the dresser and, after glancing into her bag, saw that she had left her purse too. One of the room keys was missing though. Frowning, Stella sat on the end of the bed and waited.</p><p>Ten minutes later, she had taken to pacing, her heart hammering beneath her ribs. She had hardly slept and instead tossed and turned restlessly as the guilt about what she had done to Scully consumed her. Stella had watched Scully sleep on the pillow next to her and had squinted at her sharper cheekbones in the darkness. She knew she wasn’t imagining Scully’s ongoing weight loss and she was concerned about the way in which she was going about achieving it. Stella also knew that the actions she took the previous evening had been the wrong way to deal with it. She just hoped she hadn’t ruined their holiday and their valuable time together when it had barely begun.</p><p>The lock on the door of their room clicked, causing Stella to jump. She whipped around to see Scully, with her pyjamas mostly concealed by her coat, turning to shut it. Scully turned and their eyes met briefly before she broke contact and looked down at her boots.</p><p>“Dana,” Stella said, barely above a whisper, her eyes were glassy.</p><p>Scully looked up at her with her bottom lip trembling.</p><p>“Come here,” Stella said gently.</p><p>She began to walk towards her until they were both standing, clustered by the door. Scully cleared her throat and attempted to blink away her tears, but it was no use when they began to trickle heavily down her cheeks.</p><p>“I’m so ashamed,” she shattered.</p><p>“Oh,” Stella hummed, taking her in her arms, having to brace herself when Scully crumpled. “Come on.”</p><p>She guided her to the couch and took the tissue box from the end table on her side. Stella handed one to Scully then took one for herself and wiped under her eyes and nose.</p><p>“You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of,” Stella told her, tucking a salty strand of hair behind Scully’s ear. “I’m ashamed of myself and the way I acted last night.”</p><p>Scully shook her head.</p><p>“You were only trying to look after me,” she hiccupped. “You should have seen the look on your face… you were horrified by what I’m doing to myself.”</p><p>“No, not horrified. I was shocked and I was surprised at myself because I didn’t notice it sooner.”</p><p>Scully tried to even out her breathing when she felt herself on the verge of hyperventilating. Stella continued to stroke her hair but remained an arm’s length away, not wanting to suffocate her while she attempted to regain control.</p><p>“I’ll get you some water,” she said, crossing to the mini bar and taking an icy cold bottle from the inside of the fridge door.</p><p>Scully smiled weakly, gratefully, and took a few small sips.</p><p>“Do you want to talk about it?” Stella asked.</p><p>Scully shrugged and took a trembling breath.</p><p>“There isn’t much to talk about,” she said. “I look at myself in the mirror every day and I’m repulsed by what I see there. I don’t feel like I used to before…”</p><p>“Before William,” Stella finished for her.</p><p>Scully nodded, slowly regulating her breathing.</p><p>“I hate myself.”</p><p>“Dana…”</p><p>“And I’m ruining our vacation.”</p><p>“No, you’re not,” Stella asserted. “This is important and I’m glad we’re doing this now while I’m with you and not over the phone or on Skype.”</p><p>Scully screwed the lid onto the water bottle and placed it on the floor, putting her head in her hands.</p><p>“You can’t carry on like this though,” Stella said, beginning to rub her back softly. “You’re hurting yourself and, if you carry on, you’re going to make yourself seriously ill.”</p><p>“I know,” Scully said numbly. “I really need to try but it’s so hard when you’re not with me and I’m just by myself.”</p><p>“Then you need to ring me whenever you’re struggling. I don’t care what it is I’m doing, I’ll drop it.”</p><p>Scully looked back over her shoulder at Stella with red-rimmed eyes, Stella extended her arm and Scully melted into her.</p><p>“Where did you go?” Stella asked the crown of her head.</p><p>“I went down to the front desk and asked them about trips to see the Aurora Borealis.”</p><p>“Mmm?”</p><p>“There’s still some space on a tour tonight but the guy said we can just drive and find them ourselves if we’ve got a car; he can recommend a spot.”</p><p>“That sounds good,” Stella said, kissing her head.</p><p>“They’re quite easy to find and this is a good time of year to visit. Apparently, we won’t have to drive far.”</p><p>“We should go tonight and then if we don’t have any luck ourselves, we can book on a tour.”</p><p>Scully nodded and snuggled into Stella’s shoulder, inhaling the scent of her moisturiser.</p><p>“I was thinking we could go to the Blue Lagoon this morning,” Scully said. “I think it’s nearer to the airport than here but...”</p><p>“That’ll be nice,” Stella agreed. “No waterfalls or caves on the first day. I bet you’re still exhausted.”</p><p>Scully nodded and sat up, sitting completely flush with Stella’s side. They looked at each other and smiled, knowing that they were going to be okay.</p><p>“I’m sorry that I’m scaring you,” Scully said. “But I really am going to try, starting now. I am going to get better.”</p><p>Stella swallowed.</p><p>“You need to promise me that you’ll talk to me whenever you feel like you’re having a wobble, don’t keep it to yourself. You need to tell me.”</p><p>Scully nodded and reached to squeeze her hand.</p><p>“I promise,” she agreed.</p><p>Stella leant in and kissed her deeply, before pulling her away and framing her face with both of her hands, kissing her once on her forehead and then her left cheek. They lingered for a while, their faces close and noses brushing, before Scully pulled away and grimaced.</p><p>“I haven’t even brushed my teeth,” she groaned.</p><p>“I don’t care,” Stella smiled. “You always taste good.”</p><p>Scully shuddered, half serious, and stood to make for the bathroom.</p><p>“I’ll look for somewhere for breakfast while you get ready. Fancy anything in particular?”</p><p>“Anything,” Scully said, smiling at the effort Stella was putting in to be completely nonchalant about it.</p><p>Half an hour later they were making the short five minute walk to a brunch place Stella had found on TripAdvisor.</p><p>“The best French toast in Iceland, apparently,” she told Scully, taking her hand as she hurried them to their destination.</p><p>Having barely eaten the night before, Stella was famished and eager to get a table, while Scully smiled and swung their joined hands between them as she hastened her pace to keep up.</p><p>***</p><p>“So, are you going to elaborate on all this sex you’ve had in swimming pools or shall we just leave it to my imagination?”</p><p>Scully spluttered into her smoothie and wiped her streaming eyes as Stella laughed and patted her back for effect.</p><p>“Jesus, Stella, keep your voice down,” she gasped.</p><p>Stella rolled her eyes.</p><p>“No one heard me.”</p><p>Despite herself, Scully looked around where they were sitting, submerged in the shallows of the Blue Lagoon, self-consciously.</p><p>“You make it sound like it happened a lot,” she said.</p><p>“Didn’t it?”</p><p>“<em>No!</em>”</p><p>Stella tipped her head back and laughed up to the steamy, grey sky.</p><p>“How many times?” Stella pressed, smiling coyly.</p><p>“Only twice,” Scully murmured.</p><p>She could feel her cheeks burning and it wasn’t just from the heat rising from the seawater.</p><p>“Twice more than me,” Stella shrugged. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Dana. I like the idea of it, just never had the opportunity.”</p><p>Scully looked at her shyly over her shoulder.</p><p>“I’m a little surprised that I’ve done something sexually that you haven’t,” she said.</p><p>“You’ve probably done lots of sexual things that I haven’t.”</p><p>Stella leaned back a little and stretched her legs out in front of her, feeling herself relax completely.</p><p>“Oh yeah, like what?”</p><p>In contrast, Scully sat up straighter, curious to hear what Stella was about to say.</p><p>“Well, there’s the swimming pools and I’m guessing hot tubs?”</p><p>Scully nodded.</p><p>“Only once,” she said.</p><p>“In a car?” Stella continued.</p><p>“Quite a bit in high school with my first boyfriend… but I thought everyone fooled around in cars at that age.”</p><p>“Not me,” Stella smirked. “I didn’t get any at all at secondary school.”</p><p>Scully gawped at her.</p><p>“Go on,” Stella laughed, her eyes glistening. “How old were you your first time?”</p><p>“Sixteen,” Scully told her.</p><p>“Ah, see I waited until I was nineteen.”</p><p>“<em>Really?</em>”</p><p>“You sound surprised,” Stella observed.</p><p>“I am a little,” Scully said. “Just because you’re so confident and sure of yourself.”</p><p>“I definitely made up for it in the years that followed, but it took me a while to feel ready and to actually want it. I had a lot going on while I was growing up.”</p><p>Scully nodded and placed a hand on Stella’s thigh.</p><p>“Was your first time with a man or a woman?” Scully asked.</p><p>“A man, the brother of one of my housemates at university. I first kissed a woman when I was twenty and first had sex with a woman when I was twenty three.”</p><p>Scully nodded, fascinated. She wanted to know it all, to ask Stella all the questions that burned her tongue, but she knew that Stella would eventually start to reciprocate and she felt embarrassed by her lack of experience, wishing she had lived her life more while she was in her twenties instead of always being consumed by her work and by Mulder.</p><p>“Who knew this would be our topic of conversation on our innocent little day trip,” Stella said, amusement dancing in her tone.</p><p>Scully shook her head, smiling sheepishly.</p><p>“Never be afraid to ask me anything, Dana,” Stella told her. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”</p><p>Their fingers entwined and they people-watched for some time while they finished their drinks.</p><p>***</p><p>“I think this is it,” Scully said as Stella squinted into the darkness ahead of them as they drove.</p><p>“How can you possibly know that?”</p><p>“Too many years riding shotgun on the road with Mulder,” Scully told her. “My navigation skills are impeccable.”</p><p>After forty five minutes of driving into the night, they pulled over seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Scully had insisted they didn’t need the Sat Nav the concierge at the hotel had offered to lend them and had been more than happy to read the map by torch light while Stella drove them out of Reykjavík.</p><p>“Now what?” Stella chuffed, applying the handbrake.</p><p>Scully shrugged.</p><p>“We wait, I guess.”</p><p>“Dana, are you <em>sure</em> this is it. I know the locals won’t be out every night but there’s nothing and no one around.”</p><p>“I’m sure that I’m sure,” Scully smirked, rolling her eyes. “Take a look for yourself if you don’t believe me.”</p><p>She handed Stella the map and looked on in amusement as Stella attempted to appear to know what she was doing, tilting the map at odd angles rather unconvincingly.</p><p>“Okay,” Stella said after a moment. “I think we just need to wait and see what happens.”</p><p>She passed the map back over to Scully, who folded it up, fighting the urge to laugh, and tucked it into the car’s glove compartment.</p><p>“How long shall we give it?” Stella asked.</p><p>“Well, it’s just past nine now, so lets see what happens in the next couple of hours. We only have that cave walk at two tomorrow, so we’ve time for a lie in.”</p><p>Stella nodded.</p><p>“If only I’d been able to have my nap this afternoon without any distractions…”</p><p>“I don’t know what you mean,” Scully claimed, a light blush colouring her cheeks.</p><p>Stella leant over the centre console and pecked her on the lips before opening her door and getting out of the car.</p><p>“What are you…?” Scully began as she watched Stella open one of the back doors and begin to collapse the back seats.</p><p>She then walked round to the boot and unravelled a large picnic blanket, spreading it out over the now flat surface. Scully grinned when she noticed that Stella had brought with them the spare pillows from inside the hotel’s wardrobe and was setting up a makeshift bed for them. Out of a tote bag she had clearly snuck into the car, Stella produced a bottle of champagne, two champagne glasses and an assortment of snacks. Once she had set up, Stella hopped out of the back of the car and Scully’s heart swelled with affection upon watching her partner jump a little in order to reach and close the boot door behind her.</p><p>“Are you going to sit there staring all night, or are you going to come and help me drink this?” Stella teased, popping the cork of the champagne bottle, climbing back into the car and settling onto the pillows.</p><p>Scully unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed over and into the back with as much grace as she could muster, accepting a full glass from Stella and leaning into her side.</p><p>“You didn’t have to do all of this,” she said, kissing her behind the ear.</p><p>“I know, but it’s much more comfortable here than sitting up there, don’t you think.”</p><p>“Mmm,” Scully sighed. “Don’t let me fall asleep.”</p><p>“I absolutely won’t.”</p><p>Stella rolled onto her side, pulling Scully closer and hooking her upper leg across her waist, running her hand down her back before taking a firm hold of her bottom.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Scully asked, holding her glass aloft to avoid spilling her champagne.</p><p>“Feeling you up,” Stella said, discarding her own flute and beginning to kiss her neck. “Is that okay?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s perfect,” Scully breathed.</p><p>She closed her eyes moaned softly when she felt Stella begin to rub her coccyx, occasionally running a finger further down into the clothed groove between her buttocks.</p><p>“Is this okay?” Stella asked, acknowledging she had never touched Scully in that way before, even over clothes.</p><p>“Yeah, it is.”</p><p>Scully turned away slightly to put her drink down, before closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of Stella’s hands and mouth on her.</p><p>“How far do you want to go?” Scully asked.</p><p>“Well,” Stella began, between kisses to Scully’s exposed upper chest. “I was thinking… while we’re waiting… we could tick something off my list of sexual inexperiences… if you want to.”</p><p>“You do need to catch up,” Scully teased.</p><p>She squealed when Stella detached herself from her skin and suddenly pounced on her, flipping her onto her back and pinning her, straddling her waist. Scully screeched when she felt Stella’s fingers begin to tickle her ribs, venturing up to her armpits before finding that devastating spot on her neck which always reduced her to a twitching, hysterical heap. Consequently, Scully had to stop struggling and simply endure the sensation that bordered on painful until Stella eventually took pity on her and stopped, slicked her hair back and leant down for a slow, tender kiss. She could feel Scully’s chest heaving beneath her as she panted heavily, her body limp and relieved.</p><p>“Okay?” Stella whispered, rubbing the tip of her nose against Scully’s.</p><p>“Yeah,” Scully panted, laughing. “But you’re a fucking bitch.”</p><p>Stella tipped her head back and laughed loudly, then went in for another kiss, nipping her bottom lip as she did so.</p><p>“You won’t be saying that in a minute when I’ve got my tongue on you.”</p><p>Scully groaned longingly, flat on her back and it wasn’t long before Stella had stripped her of every item of her clothing.</p><p>“Are you sure about this?” she asked, hitching Scully’s thigh over her shoulder.</p><p>“Don’t you dare stop,” Scully warned, pulling her leg back further as she looked down at Stella.</p><p>Her eyes were ablaze with desire.</p><p>Stella made quick work of bringing Scully up to her peak. Her head was buried in between her thighs and both hands clung to her waist, helping Scully to maintain the undulation of her hips, squeezing her middle and encouraging her on.</p><p>***</p><p>“Oh shit,” Stella mumbled clearing her throat, suddenly feeling parched. “Dana, look.”</p><p>She nudged Scully until she was awake and pointed out of the car’s windscreen. They had fallen asleep right after Scully had given Stella her second orgasm and were entangled in one of the hotel’s blankets, both completely nude.</p><p>“Look, Dana,” Stella whispered, sitting up and letting the blanket fall from her bare chest.</p><p>She stared out of the window, transfixed, while trying her best to rouse Scully with her other hand. The redhead was definitely the heavier sleeper of the two of them.</p><p>The sky was still pitch black, save for the stars and a transcendent ripple of green that drifted across its expanse.</p><p>“Are they…do they move?” Stella wondered, feeling Scully sit up next to her and take her hand.</p><p>“Yeah,” Scully said slowly, captivated. “NASA think it has something to do with the rhythm of the Earth’s magnetic field…”</p><p>“I didn’t know that.”</p><p>They sat and watched in silence, as if they might scare the natural phenomena away if they said anything more. Scully poured the last of the champagne into their glasses and they sat there, shoulder to shoulder, infinitely.</p>
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